Villanova, Notre Dame finalizing plans to open 2026-27 college basketball season in Italy, report says
Villanova and Notre Dame are finalizing plans to open the 2026-27 college basketball season in Rome, Italy.
CBS Sports reports Tuesday that the Wildcats and Fighting Irish men's and women's basketball teams were given special clearance by the NCAA to begin next season in Rome for a doubleheader on Sunday, Nov. 1. The NCAA quietly approved a waiver in January that would allow the teams a one-day head start for the 2026-27 season, according to CBS Sports. College basketball's official start for the 2026-27 season is Monday, Nov. 2.
The teams will play the doubleheader at the Palazzetto dello Sport, aka the PalaTiziano, CBS Sports reports. The arena seats 3,500 people for basketball games and was built in the 1950s.
CBS Sports reports that the games will air on Fox in the afternoon in Rome, which means the games will air in the morning in the United States. Specific plans are still being finalized, but the plan is to have the men's basketball game lead into NFL coverage on Fox that Sunday. The women's basketball game is set to air on Fox Sports 1.
Both Villanova and Notre Dame are private Catholic universities with connections to Pope Leo XIV.
Before he became the most powerful person of the Catholic church, Pope Leo XIV graduated from Villanova with a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1977.
Pope Leo XIV is also from Chicago, which has a significant Notre Dame fan-base given its proximity to South Bend, Indiana.
While the doubleheader between Villanova and Notre Dame is set to be played in Italy, Pope Leo XIV's involvement — if any — isn't known at this time.
