Notre Dame, Villanova set to play college basketball game in Rome
College basketball is taking itself overseas. Notre Dame and Rome are set to play from Rome.
We know that Week 0 of the college football season has become synonymous with taking the sport international, as the Aer Lingus Classic from Dublin, Ireland, signifies the start of the season. College basketball is now getting into the overseason action. In the first game of its kind, college basketball will see two teams, Notre Dame and Villanova, both the men's and women's teams, travel to Rome, Italy, to play on Nov.
1. The matchup and event are going to be titled the Eternal City Tip-Off and give college basketball its chance for global shine. For the first time on FOX, college hoops starts on an international stage.
🇮🇹🏀 Notre Dame and Pope Leo XIV's alma mater, Villanova, will meet in the ETERNAL CITY TIP-OFF, an unprecedented college basketball matchup of their men’s and women’s teams in Rome on November 1. pic. twitter.
com/wBh0K6GLKW — FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) April 17, 2026 The matchup of Notre Dame and Villanova pits two Catholic institutions against each other in this game in Rome, right next to the center of the Catholic world, the Vatican. A looming question for this contest is whether the newly inducted pope, Pope Leo XIV, will be in attendance. The Chicago native is an alum of Villanova University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in mathematics.