Saturday night was supposed to be one big party in Manhattan's Aggieville district, with Kansas State knocking off upstart Loyola and advancing to its first Final Four since 1964.
But then the game started.
"It was kind of a bummer," said John Boyington, a K-State graduate student.
He was inside Tubby's Sports Bar, where fans had quickly sensed that something special was slipping away.
For every cry of annoyance at a bad shot by K-State there was a head shake at another three-pointer by Loyola. Fans waved their arms, yelled unprintable words and drained Bud Lights.