Villanova, Notre Dame planning ’26-27 college hoops opener in Rome leading into Fox NFL coverage

College hoops is heading (close) to the Holy Land next season.

According to a report by CBS Sports college basketball writer Matt Norlander, the Villanova Wildcats and Notre Dame Fighting Irish are in the “final stages” of scheduling a season-opening game in Rome, Italy, to tip-off the 2026-27 hoops season on Sunday, Nov. 1. Both schools will send their men’s and women’s teams to create a doubleheader.

Per Norlander, “Fox is on board to broadcast both games … with the doubleheader scheduled to play out in the afternoon in Rome.” Given the time difference, that will mean some early-morning hoops in the United States. Fox is reportedly planning to use the men’s contest as a lead-in to its NFL coverage that day. The women’s game will be played afterwards on FS1.

One interesting wrinkle to this particular game being played in Rome is the new Pope. Robert Francis Prevost is an alumnus of Villanova and a massive sports fan (we’ve all seen the picture of him attending a White Sox game during the 2005 World Series). It’s not out of the question that Pope Francis would make the short saunter to Rome’s Palazzetto dello Sport to watch his alma mater, if such a thing is even allowed. Notre Dame, of course, is the most prominent Catholic school in the country.

While the game is still being finalized according to the report, if it happens, it is believed to be the first time men’s college basketball has opened its season abroad. Women’s college basketball opened this past season in Paris with a game between Baylor and Duke.

Using the game as a lead-in to NFL coverage is a creative idea from Fox. The fact that this game would take place a day before the rest of the college basketball universe begins play already gives it some buzz. But playing it in Italy, potentially in front of the Pope, before NFL action begins? That’s a surefire way to juice viewership.