Villanova, Notre Dame to open basketball season in Rome
Ahead of the teams’ journey to Vatican City and Rome, Notre Dame’s president pointed to Pope Leo XIV’s description of sports as a “school of life,” highlighting the significance of this perspective for the two Catholic universities.
Villanova and Notre Dame will face off in men’s and women’s basketball games in Rome on Nov. 1, inspired by the first American-born Pontiff and marking the start of their NCAA seasons.
“Pope Leo has spoken in such inspiring ways about the value of sport, emphasizing that sport is a ‘school of life’ that integrates the body, mind, and spirit, a vision both Notre Dame and Villanova wholeheartedly embrace,” Notre Dame President Father Robert Dowd said in a release announcing the games earlier this year. “We are honored to join Villanova for what is sure to be the experience of a lifetime for our student-athletes and fans.”
The Catholic universities will compete at the Palazzo dello Sport as part of the Eternal City Tip-Off, which Villanova describes as an “unprecedented college basketball showdown” inspired by the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born Pontiff and a Villanova graduate.
Father Dowd also described the games as a fitting addition to Notre Dame’s presence in Rome, where its Notre Dame Rome program has hosted hundreds of students and scholars from around the world each year since its establishment in 2014.
The men’s game will air on FOX at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by the women’s matchup on FS1 at noon ET.
Official event packages include a private Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 31, celebrated by Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez, and a planned private audience with Pope Leo XIV, which the university noted is subject to papal availability.
According to Notre Dame Athletics, the men’s game will mark the first matchup between the universities’ teams in nearly a decade, following their last meeting in December 2016.
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