SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
It's not often that there's so much hype this early in the college basketball season.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
But for two American Catholic schools, Villanova and Notre Dame, they'll get to have a first this weekend.
DETROW: Both men's and women's basketball teams will be playing in Rome Sunday.
DENISE DILLON: Just the excitement, the energy around it - you want to bottle it up.
SUMMERS: Denise Dillon is the head coach for the Villanova women's basketball team.
DILLON: Yes, we're going up against a top 20 program, led by an All-American. Just wanting this team to battle - they got to come out ready, just continue to hammer home the importance of Villanova basketball.
DETROW: The double header - first the men play, then the women - has been dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off.
SUMMERS: And while Notre Dame may have the luck of the Irish, Villanova hopes to draw on a higher form of help.
DILLON: As I say, the power of the Pope. We need it.
DETROW: That's right. The 1977 Villanova grad Robert Prevost would have a lot to share at his 50th college reunion if he goes next year. He now goes by Pope Leo XIV.
DILLON: With Pope Leo being named Pope - an American is one thing, and then learning that he was a Villanovan, you can't believe it.
SUMMERS: Dillon says that religion is a big factor in her life, and she finds the opportunity to be in the Pope's presence overwhelming.
DILLON: I just hope I don't - like, I'm not one who passes out. I don't pass out. But I could, like, black out and almost, like, forget what was happening. So yeah, my level of excitement is off the charts.
DETROW: Both teams are set to meet His Holiness at the Vatican before they hit the court.
DILLON: Spiritually, just the reminder of how amazing this opportunity is, this experience - and you get caught off, you know, as we do with our work. However, the reminder of what this is all about and the experience and having an opportunity to be in Rome, great support of family and friends. But the big picture is Pope Leo.
SUMMERS: The international play is a first in season openers for the schools, and we still have a few months before Pope Leo needs to fill out his March Madness bracket.
(SOUNDBITE OF PAVEMENT'S "5-4=UNITY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
