Thousands of happy Virginia Tech fans erupted in Blacksburg after winning free bacon at a recent Hokies basketball game. While their team wouldn’t land a win, the action did give attendees something to cheer for.

The Hokies found themselves down late in the second half of a matchup with Miami, but if you panned around the crowd at the four-and-a-half-minute mark, you would’ve had no idea.

That’s because fans blew the roof off the building with an outcry of cheers. What were they so happy about, with the home team losing to an ACC foe?

An in-game promotion that provided everyone in attendance with a parting gift upon leaving the arena.

That promotion was linked to free throw attempts by the opposing Hurricanes. It’s a popular sponsorship deal that many programs around the country utilize. Similar contests have been seen in the NBA, too.

If your opponent misses two free throws in a trip to the charity stripe within the final eight minutes of action, fans win a prize. When I attended South Carolina, it was a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich (The Fowl Shot).

That promotion was the loudest the arena got in some of those Darrin Horn seasons.

In Virginia Tech basketball’s case, fans win bacon, which I can say I’ve never seen before. On Tuesday night, it happened.

Pure and utter chaos ensued for a brief moment after that pair of bricked free throws. Unfortunately, it didn’t help Tech grab any momentum.

The Hokies trailed by six at the time of the misses, and they’d go on to fall 76-70 to the Hurricanes. Virginia Tech never led after the halftime break.

With the loss, the Virginia Tech basketball team fell to 16-12 on the year as it continues to battle for a postseason spot. At the time of this writing, the Hokies are not included in Joe Lunardi’s NCAA Tournament projections.