For the first time since Michigan and UCLA cut down the nets last April, men's and women's college basketball will tip off across the country on Monday.
For Villanova and Notre Dame, however, the new campaign begins a day earlier, as both schools' men's and women's teams will open their seasons Nov. 1 in Rome.
Rome, you ask? As in the city near the Vatican, where Pope Leo, a Villanova graduate, now resides? The answer is yes.
Since his election by the College of Cardinals to be the successor to Pope Francis and the first American Pope in May 2025,
Pope Leo's sports side has been on full display back here in the States. There's the "Pope Seat" at the Chicago White Sox's Rate Field, which also saw the White Sox have a "Pope Hat Night" this past season, and then with his alma mater in June of 2025, where he put up his "V's" after receiving a Villanova baseball cap.
The doubleheader between the Wildcats and the Fighting Irish begins at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, with the men's game followed by the women's game at noon ET.
That all said, and working with the understanding that the doubleheader came together immediately after Pope Leo's election, it's raised some curiosity as to whether the Holy Father will be in the stands on Sunday for the games, as they'll be in late afternoon, early evening local time — perhaps even wearing a Villanova jersey?
Here's what to know:
Will the Pope be at Villanova-Notre Dame game? What to know of Pope Leo's appearance for Rome college basketball game
It remains unclear whether Pope Leo will attend Sunday's college basketball doubleheader in Rome.
Speaking with USA TODAY Sports earlier this week, Villanova athletic director Eric Roedl said he was unsure of the Villanova alumnus's plans regarding a potential appearance at the event, but should the Holy Father make an appearance, it'd be a welcome one.
It's worth noting that Sunday is not an ordinary Sunday in the Catholic Church, as it coincides with All Saints' Day, one of the Church's major dates on the liturgical calendar.
"I think introducing him to being part of a venue then adds security and other things like that," Roedl said. "It would obviously be amazing to have Pope Leo at the games or at some part of the games."
Though it remains unclear whether Pope Leo will make an appearance at Sunday's event, those traveling to Rome for the doubleheader are scheduled to have an audience with him on Saturday following Mass at St. Peter's Basilica inside the Vatican, according to Eric Roedl. The audience is included as part of the travel packages sold for all attendees from Villanova and Notre Dame.
Is the Pope a Villanova alum?
Yes, Pope Leo — formerly known as Robert Francis Prevost before taking his papal name — attended Villanova for his undergraduate studies and received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics in 1977.
He additionally received an honorary doctor of humanities in 2014 according to a Villanova news release, shortly after he was elected pontiff by the College of Cardinals during the Conclave.
"They tell me that the people coming to the match, 90% are Villanova and 10% Notre Dame, so the voice of the people of God will be very strong on the Villanova side," Pope Leo recently told a Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter about the doubleheader.
Pope Leo XIV on the @VillanovaU vs @NotreDame basketball games to be played in Rome in November:
— Justin McLellan (@McLellan_Js) September 25, 2026
“They tell me that the people coming to the match, 90% are Villanova and 10% Notre Dame, so the voice of the people of God will be very strong on the Villanova side.” pic.twitter.com/ATRmesblei
Recently Villanova hosted an international sustainability conference near the Vatican, which was supposed to be capped off by Pope Leo presenting the university's inaugural sustainability medal that was named after him, but due to a hospital stay, where he had a small lung nodule removed that later was diagnosed as lung cancer, that appearance did not happen.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Villanova alum Pope Leo attend game vs Notre Dame in Rome?
