Pope Leo XIV Chimes in on Villanova/Notre Dame Matchup, White Sox Rebound

Villanova Men’s and Women’s Basketball will begin their 2026-27 season in Rome, Italy against Notre Dame on Sunday, Nov. 1, and the Wildcats’ most famous alumnus chimed in about how he expects the Villanova faithful to travel.

Per a report from Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan on Friday, Sept. 25, Pope Leo XIV said “they tell me that the people coming to the match, 90 percent are Villanova and 10 percent Notre Dame, so the voice of the people of God will be very strong on the Villanova side.”

The games, dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off, will pit two of the nation’s foremost Catholic universities against one another: whether or not the pope will attend remains up in the air. Continuing to field sports-related questions, the pope demurred when asked if he had a role in his hometown Chicago White Sox making it back to the playoffs after back-to-back seasons with more than 100 losses, including a year in which they flirted with the worst record in big league history. His answer? “No comment.”