Villanova and Notre Dame open the college basketball season in Rome following papal audience

On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Villanova Wildcats will face off in an unprecedented doubleheader at Rome's Palazzo dello Sport, kicking off the 2026-27 college basketball seasons. The event, inspired by the election of the first American pope, is called the Eternal City Tip-Off. The men's game starts at 9:30 a.m. ET on Fox, while the women's game follows at noon ET on FS1. Both games will be streamed on Fubo and through a Fox One subscription.

The Eternal City Tip-Off was conceived by Fox Sports and pitched to Villanova coach Kevin Willard by his former agent and current Fox Sports executive vice president, Jordan Bazant. The idea came after Robert Francis Prevost, a Villanova graduate and Chicago native, became Pope Leo XIV. At a private mass at St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Leo posed for pictures with players from both institutions, who gifted him a golden basketball and a jersey, respectively.

Notre Dame enters this matchup with a 13-18 record under head coach Micah Shrewsberry, who seeks to make his first NCAA tournament appearance since 2022. The Fighting Irish added transfer Braeden Smith from Gonzaga and Ethan Roberts from Penn, and expect a significant boost from sophomore Braeden Koehler. Villanova, meanwhile, returns senior Tyler Perkins, the 2025 Big East Most Improved Player, and adds transfers Kwame Evans Jr. and Devin Royal. Freshman center Luigi Suigo, a 7-foot-3 Italian prospect, adds depth to the frontcourt.

The women's game will feature Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo, who won the Nancy Lieberman Award and Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year honors last season. Hidalgo averaged 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, along with 5.6 steals per game, including an NCAA record 16-steal performance against Akron.

Key additions to Notre Dame's roster include McDonald's All-American Jenica Lewis and Princeton transfer Madison St. Rose. Villanova's roster includes McDonald's All-American Jennifer Bascoe and Princeton transfer Kennedy Henry, who set a program record for steals in her freshman season. The game will be called on Fox by Kugler with Bill Raftery and Kim Adams providing sideline reporting and analysis, respectively.