Picture this: After falling short of a national championship last season, Bruce Pearl finally gets the Auburn Tigers their first-ever title. Celebrations are held all across Alabama, in Pearl’s home state of Massachusetts and …. also the Vatican?
Catholic cardinals elected a new pope Thursday, and he’s a college basketball fan. Robert Francis Prevost, a Chicago native, was selected to be the 267th pope. He’ll go by Pope Leo XIV.
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It’s not a new or unique thing for a pope to be a sports fan. Pope Francis was a supporter of San Lorenzo, one of the oldest clubs in the Argentine Football Association. Pope Francis was born in Argentina and remained a fan during his papacy. The team even visited the Vatican twice during Pope Francis’ tenure as pope.
So, with Prevost being the first pope from the United States, it’s only natural to wonder what other teams could visit the Vatican in the years to come.
The most likely pick to fill that role is Villanova basketball. Prevost got his Bachelor’s degree from Villanova and retweeted a celebratory post after the men’s basketball team won the national championship in 2016.
The NCAA was very quick to make sure everyone knew Prevost’s connection to Villanova.
Another person who was excited about that development was director and notorious New York Knicks fan Spike Lee, who believes his team is in for a “holy blessing” since multiple former Villanova basketball players currently play for the Knicks.
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As for Prevost’s other sports fandoms, many have speculated about his hometown allegiances. Is he a fan of the Chicago Bears? Which Chicago-based baseball team does he support?
Prevost has apparently never tweeted about any professional sports team in Chicago, and there’s no confirmation he roots for any of those teams. It was mentioned on ABC that Prevost is from the South Side of Chicago, but roots for the Cubs. That, however, remains unconfirmed.
Prevost is a supporter of St. Rita — a high school on the Southwest Side of Chicago. He retweeted a post about the team’s appearance in the Illinois state championship in 2014, and served as a substitute physics teacher at the school in the past, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Given Prevost’s increased profile, it’s only a matter of time before his sports allegiances come to light. Does he support the team that once endured the longest World Series drought ever, the team with a long-suffering history at quarterback or the team that just set the record for most losses in an MLB season?
Either way, he knows something about compassion and that should serve him well in his new role.
This news was originally published on this post .