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

ROME (AP) — They’ve been blessed by the pope. And now it’s finally time for some hoops.

The Villanova and Notre Dame men’s and women’s teams are meeting in a doubleheader in Rome on Sunday to open the college basketball season.

The event, dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off, was created to honor the first American pope.

Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV received all four teams in an audience at the Vatican on Saturday.

Leo told the teams from his alma mater Villanova and fellow Catholic university Notre Dame that in matters of sport, the pontiff is neutral.

Then the pope, who was born Robert Prevost, said his former self might disagree.

“Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now,” he said to laughs during a whooping, cheering audience of 7,000 people from both schools — players, coaches, fans and their families — in the Vatican audience hall.

Inside the basketball arena, many Villanova fans wore Wildcats jerseys featuring the name of “Pope Leo” and a “XIV” for the number.

Leo graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Villanova, the Augustinian school near Philadelphia. He was born in Chicago — not all that far from Notre Dame, which is located in South Bend, Indiana.

Villanova fans also held aloft a banner featuring Pope Leo depicted wearing a Villanova jersey reaching out to the university's president, the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, in a playful scene reminiscent of Michelangelo’s fresco in the Sistine Chapel.

The games are being played at the 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport, which is located about a half-hour drive from the Vatican.

While Leo, who underwent lung cancer surgery last month, was not expected to attend the games, a contingent of cardinals and other Vatican officials was expected at the arena.

The schools also brought their team chaplains to Rome.

The men’s game started at 3:30 p.m. local (9:30 a.m. EST) and is being shown on Fox with Bill Raftery as the analyst. The women’s game, which features the only ranked team of the day in No. 13 Notre Dame, is scheduled for 6 p.m. (noon EST) on FS1.

The games are being played on All Saints’ Day — a major Catholic holiday.

Before tipoff, there was a moment of prayer and the U.S. and Italian national anthems were sung.

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Notre Dame fans cheer before the NCAA college basketball game between Villanova and Notre Dame in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Fans hold a poster showing Rev. Peter M. Donohue, the president of Villanova University, left, and Pope Leo XIV before the NCAA college basketball game between Villanova and Notre Dame in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Villanova's players warm up before their game against Notre Dame in the men's Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader organized to honor the first American pope and mark the opening of the NCAA season in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Villanove brass band performs before the NCAA college basketball game between Villanova and Notre Dame in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Villanova fan wears team jerseys with the name of Pope Leo XIV before an NCAA college basketball game between Villanova Notre Dame in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Villanova fans wear team jerseys with the name of Pope Leo XIV before an NCAA college basketball game between Villanova Notre Dame in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV examines a basketball he received as a gift in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The Villanova men's basketball team takes part in a training session in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

From left, Villanova's guards Elijah Crawford, and Brady Muller present Pope Leo XIV with a personalized Villanova's jersey as they meet in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

From left, Notre Dame's guards Braeden Smith and Logan Imes, and from right, guards Hanna Hidalgo and Kelly Ratigan present Pope Leo XIV with a personalized Notre Dame's jersey and basketball as they meet in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men’s and women’s college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

This combination of three images shows Pope Leo XIV as he examines a basketball he received in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Police in Dallas say four people are dead and 15 are injured following separate shootings in a Dallas neighborhood. Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said police are still trying to determine if the shootings in the Deep Ellum neighborhood were related. It was among several violent incidents nationwide on Halloween weekend.

Comeaux said three separate shootings occurred and it wasn't immediately known why they started. Comeaux said some arrests were made but he didn’t specify how many or what charges were involved.

“This is a really big scene. It's spread out,” Comeaux said. “We are interviewing some individuals right now that we have arrested, still trying to figure out exactly how it ties into all the shootings out here.”

Separately, one person was killed and eight others were wounded in a mass shooting just outside Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, after the annual ‘Magic City Classic’ football game on Saturday night, police said.

Michael Pickett, chief of the Birmingham Police Department, said most spectators and families had left the stadium property after the game, but the shooting happened nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue.

He said he was “very grateful that more people weren’t injured.”

The circumstances of the shooting were unclear.

Police spokesperson De'Rell Freeman said one person had been detained and transported to police headquarters for questioning, and “multiple weapons” had been found and secured.

Alabama State and Alabama A&M are historically Black universities and archrivals whose annual contest has been played for more than 100 years. Nearly 70,000 fans attended Saturday's game, won by Alabama A&M 31-28. The event draws some of the largest crowds in the country for games played in their college football division.

The Magic City Classic has such a deep history that Alabama State coach Eddie Robinson Jr., a former NFL linebacker and alumnus of the school, proposed creating a Hall of Fame for the game.

In Newark, Delaware, six people were shot shortly after 11:10 p.m. Saturday near the University of Delaware campus, Newark police Lt. Greg D’Elia said. All six were transported to hospitals for treatment. Video shared on social media showed people running for safety from the scene. One stretch of the city's Main Street was closed for several hours after the shooting.

A shooting early Sunday in Bloomington, Illinois, left a 19-year-old woman dead and another woman in critical condition. Six others had injuries that were not life-threatening, but it was unclear from a statement by the city's police department and McLean County Coroner’s Office if those people had gunshot wounds. The shooting happened near the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

And in Fayetteville, Arkansas, six people were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds from a shooting that happened early Sunday. No arrests have been made, police said in a news release. A preliminary investigation indicates an altercation preceded the shooting.

This image provided by WBMA shows police vehicles at the scene of a shooting, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026 in Birmingham, Ala. (WBMA via AP)