Pope Leo XIV to greet Villanova and Notre Dame before their Rome basketball opener

Pope Leo XIV — born Robert Francis Prevost and a 1977 Villanova University graduate — is scheduled to hold a private audience on Saturday with the men's and women's basketball teams from Villanova and the University of Notre Dame, along with roughly 7,000 traveling fans, a day before the two Catholic schools open their season against each other in Rome. The audience, "health permitting," is set for the Paul VI Audience Hall inside the Vatican, according to the Associated Press' NBC Sports report and a separate AP dispatch carried by Click2Houston.

The "Eternal City Tip-Off"

The men's and women's doubleheader, called the Eternal City Tip-Off, tips off Sunday, Nov. 1, at Rome's 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport. Fox will carry the men's game; the women's game airs on FS1. About 6,000 Villanova fans and 1,000 Notre Dame fans are expected in Rome over the weekend. The trip was planned well before Leo, 71, had the lower lobe of his right lung removed last week following a lung cancer diagnosis, and organizers say the papal audience depends on his health.

On the court, Villanova's buzz centers on 7-foot-3 Italian freshman center Luigi Suigo, a projected NBA lottery pick making his home debut in his native country. Notre Dame's headliner is guard Hannah Hidalgo, last season's Naismith national defensive player of the year, who averaged 25.3 points per game.