The daily pitch from Sports Editor : Oct. 17, 2026
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 17—➜ The NBA preseason games ended on Friday night, with the regular season starting next week. .
➜ when the Wizards host the Bucks at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
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➜ The Minnesota Timberwolves, featuring former Illini and , tip off their season at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Miami.
fans, many elementary-school children, who attended the Illinois women's basketball team's Field Trip Day game last season when the Illini defeated Murray State 84-64 at State Farm Center in Champaign. This year's Field Trip Day game will tip off at 11 a.m. on Dec. 7 when Illinois hosts Chicago State at the 15,544-seat State Farm Center, the program announced on Friday.
➜ . The highly-anticipated season officially tips off on Nov. 2 when the Illini host Fairleigh Dickinson. But this 4 p.m. exhibition game on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena offers us the first glimpse of 's 10th team at Illinois.
➜ . The expanded field of 384 teams across eight classes — 48 teams will make the playoffs in each class — gets revealed starting at 9 p.m. on Saturday.
➜ . Stay up late on Saturday for a 10 p.m. kickoff from Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., to see two future Illini foes in the Cornhuskers (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) and Ducks (3-2, 1-1).
➜ Natalie Loy, Lily Dobsch and Katie VanHootegem-Dunn.
➜ "Young Sheldon."
➜ Christmas.