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Sports Friday, May 29, 2026 | | |
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Good morning, Chicago. Northern Illinois (35-17), which has set a program record for wins, received the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament's Tallahassee Regional. The Huskies — led by coach Ryan Copeland — will play No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina (37-21) at 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN Plus in their first game of the double-elimination regional. “It was even better than I could have imagined, just surreal,” Copeland said. “Just a bunch of emotion and just so happy for our program, our players, our coaches, support staff and all of our alums that have been with us through thick and thin.” Northern Illinois’ Cole Smith runs to the plate against Miami (Ohio) on March 21, 2026, in DeKalb,Ill. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez) They're one of two local baseball teams to make the tournament. Coach Sean McDermott led Illinois-Chicago to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019 — and his first as a head coach — by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Flames (27-27-1) are seeded fourth in the Atlanta Regional and play host and top seed Georgia Tech (48-9) — the No. 2 national seed — at 11 a.m. Friday on ACC Network. Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History | | | | Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami is the first rookie in MLB’s modern era (since 1901) with 20-plus homers before June. | | | | | The Chicago Cubs’ 10-game losing streak and the lineup’s prolonged top-to-bottom slump over the last two weeks naturally invites more scrutiny. | | | | | Davis Martin surpassed his previous best win total, while the Chicago White Sox secured their first month with a winning record since May 2023. | | | | | The minute the Chicago Bears traded veteran wide receiver DJ Moore in March, the expectations on Luther Burden III’s shoulders grew. | | | | | The Chicago Bears have been intent during the offseason program on building on last season’s foundation: “We’re off to a really good start.” | | | | | Northern Illinois reached the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time since 1972, while UIC is back for its seventh appearance — and first since Sean McDermott became head coach. | | | |
