The Atlantic Coast Conference said Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley and Southern Methodist University will join the league in the latest realignment in college sports.
Existing members met Friday morning and voted to add the new schools for the 2024-2025 season, the league said in a statement.
“This expansion will enhance and strengthen the league,” said University of Virginia President James E. Ryan, who is also chair of the ACC board. “We are excited about the ACC’s collective future.”
The move creates a new home for Cal-Berkeley and Stanford as their current league, the Pac-12, disintegrates after multiple defections. For SMU, currently a member of the American Athletic Conference, the change marks a return to major conference football for the first time since the early 1980s, the AP reported.
Major college sports leagues have gone through a period of upheaval, with realignments in the Big Ten, Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference upending traditional geographic footprints and rivalries. The ACC, home to football powerhouses including Clemson University and Florida State, will grow to 18 members with the new schools.
The ACC’s expansion should increase its income from selling media rights to sports broadcasters, the AP reported. The three newly invited colleges are expected to initially forgo a portion of the revenue, which will mean more money for the existing members, ESPN said.
