City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Villanova will face a former Big East foe, and Penn State will up against an old in-state rival on the same day in the same arena next season.

It was announced Wednesday that both the Wildcats and Nittany Lions will be a part of the inaugural Never Forget Tribute Classic on Dec. 10 in Newark, N.J.’s Prudential Center. Villanova will face Notre Dame in the first game, followed by Penn State against Pitt in Game 2.

The game will be one of the marquee non-conference matchups for the defending NCAA champion Wildcats. Notre Dame has appeared in back-to-back Elite 8’s and used to go up against Villanova on a yearly basis when the two teams were both members of the Big East.

Penn State, meanwhile, will be facing Pitt for the second time in four seasons -- the 146th meeting overall between the two. Pitt will be under the direction of first-year coach Kevin Stallings, while Pat Chambers will be in his sixth season at Penn State. Chambers also has Villanova ties as he served under Jay Wright from 2004-09 before he became the head coach at Boston University.

“It is an incredible honor for our program to be a part of this inaugural event in helping to honor the families of September 11 victims, especially the Penn State alums who lost their lives in the attacks,” Chambers said in a release. “We also look forward to facing Pitt, as it is always exciting match-up for our fans, and I hope to see many of them at Prudential Center in support of the Never Forget Tribute Classic.”

Penn State also announced Wednesday that it will face Duke as part of its non-conference slate.