FWIW, most non-US English speaking countries do use the plural verb form when the subject is a group, not an individual. Read anything written by a Brit.First: when someone names a sports team a name that does not end in "s" or "x" (which sounds like s").
Second: When newspaper/magazine writers that take a singular noun and treat it like a plural noun simply because it represents a group of people. For example:
Suppose the Miami Heat wins a game. The headlines should read, " Heat wins..." not "Heat win..." No matter how you spin it or use it the word heat, when used as a noun is SINGULAR and requires a singular verb. We don't rewrite grammar because some idiot names a team a crappy name.
Respectfully,
Would you write, "A herd of buffalo run/runs fast."?