Mark your calendars!

A report from VUSports indicates that Villanova Wildcats will host Michigan Wolverines in the newly renovated Finneran Pavilion as part of this year’s Gavitt Games. It will be the first marquee game (the Wolverines are projected as a Top-25 team entering the season) at the Wildcats new home.

There was peculation that the game could be played at the Wells Fargo Center given the size of Michigan’s fanbase, and clearly the Wolverines would have preferred that.

Michigan would’ve greatly preferred the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly. Instead, it’ll be on-campus in the Villanova’s 6,500-seat arena. Should be a wild night on the Main Line. https://t.co/LWwINJ1PPW — Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) August 28, 2018

The Pavilion has been under construction for well over a year, transformining the dated arena into a modern facility. The building will be open for business on October 1st (apparently finishing touches will still be happening) and will likely host multiple events before the Michigan game.

October 13th: Blue-White Scrimmage

November 6th: Morgan State

November 11th: Quinnipiac

The Morgan State and Quinnipiac games have not been confirmed at the Finneran Pavilion yet, but it’s hard to imagine those games being played downtown at the Wells Fargo Center given the quality of the opponent. It would also be wise for the school to use those games as a ‘test run’ of sorts on the new arena before the main event.