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VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Notre Dame and Villanova will face off this weekend to open the men’s and women’s college basketball seasons in Rome under the first U.S.-born pope, bringing a distinctly American combination of sports and Catholic pride to the Eternal City.

Pope Leo XIV graduated from Villanova in 1977 and shares its Augustinian identity, but he was born in Chicago, not far from the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Indiana. The pope has avoided taking sides in the upcoming games, but he told journalists on the plane to France in September that he had heard that more people from Villanova were coming to see the match.

“The voice of the people of God will be very strong on the Villanova side,” he said.

The unprecedented event will showcase the rivalry between the two Catholic universities on and off the court, as both expand their visibility and deepen their Vatican connections under Leo.

“Pope Leo is going to be very…