An audience with the Pope?
Villanova and Notre Dame are finalizing an agreement to open the 2026-27 men’s and women’s basketball seasons with a doubleheader in Rome, sources told The Inquirer.
CBS Sports was first to report the news Tuesday night.
A contract has not been signed, and some logistics are still being worked out, but the schools are working toward that point, sources said. According to CBS, the schools received a special waiver to play the games on Sunday, Nov. 1, despite the college basketball season officially starting a day later.
The games will be played at the Palazzetto dello Sport, which seats 3,500 people for basketball, according to CBS.
The contests are likely to give Villanova an audience with arguably the school’s most famous graduate. Pope Leo XIV is a 1977 Villanova alumnus formerly known as Robert Prevost. Notre Dame, meanwhile, is the largest Catholic university by endowment.
The game gives Villanova’s men’s team another power-conference opponent on its nonconference schedule. The Wildcats will host Michigan and Wisconsin and also play at Pittsburgh during their nonconference slate next season.
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