A Virginia Commonwealth fan jumps from a vehicle parked on Broad Street in Richmond, Va., amidst a wild celebration after VCU defeated Kansas in the Southwest regional final game in the NCAA college basketball tournament on Sunday, March 27, 2011.

SAN ANTONIO — Virginia Commonwealth players, jubilant after an astonishing Final Four berth, paraded the trophy into the stands.

Their few fans serenaded guard Brandon Rozzell with an impromptu “Happy Birthday.” Coach Shaka Smart was so candid he stopped short of cursing. Twice.

That’s how the 11th-seeded Rams, a team that was so dubious of getting an NCAA tournament invite that they didn’t bother watching the selection show two weeks ago, celebrated the biggest March upset in years.

The Final Four rarely has teams such as this.

“It’s beyond my wildest dreams,” VCU guard Rob Brandenberg said. “Coach didn’t tell me we were going to go to the Final Four when he was recruiting me.”

Like anyone could’ve seen this coming.

VCU is heading to Houston after stunning top-seeded Kansas 71-61 on Sunday, becoming just the third 11th seed to make the Final Four. The Rams will head to Houston next while the Jayhawks, ranked No. 1 during the season, are heading home after just their third loss all season.

Eighth-seeded Butler, you’re promoted to a favorite next weekend.

VCU is the trendy underdog pick now.

“Once again we felt like nobody really thought we could win going into this game,” said Smart, the budding star of the tournament. “Our guys have done a phenomenal job of putting all the doubters aside, all the people that didn’t believe in us, and going out to do their job.”

VCU guard Joey Rodriguez counted one of Kansas’ vaunted Morris twins — Marcus or Markieff — as one of those many doubters.

During a pregame captains meeting with officials, Rodriguez said one of the brothers offered him some parting words: “The run ends here.”

“We’ll see,” Rodriguez said he shot back.

The Jayhawks saw all right.

VCU players, hoisting their Southwest Regional championship trophy, poured into the temporary bleachers where VCU’s widely outnumbered fans sat in an Alamodome that was otherwise colored in Kansas blue and white.

VCU sold out its allotment of 1,000 tickets in San Antonio after advancing further than any Rams team in school history. The weekend before in Chicago, VCU had so many leftovers that Purdue fans scooped them up.

Jamie Skeen led VCU with 26 points, and as the final seconds ticked down, heaved the ball from the free throw line into the stands behind the opposite backboard. His teammates on the bench, who spent the final minutes with locked arms to hold each other back, finally spilled out onto the court.