ACC Officially Welcomes Cal, SMU and Stanford to the League

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference continues to ACCOMPLISH GREATNESS with the addition of three world-class institutions in the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), Southern Methodist University (SMU) and Stanford University as full members with full voting participation. SMU’s first official day in the ACC is July 1, 2024, while Cal and Stanford will become official members on August 2, 2024. All three institutions will begin conference competition this fall.
 
The additions of Cal, SMU and Stanford enhance and strengthen the ACC academically, athletically and financially as well as create a true national conference that spans coast to coast. The incoming universities enrich the league’s competitiveness in all sports and further demonstrate the ACC’s commitment to broad-based programs for both women and men. More than 2,200 student-athletes from Cal, SMU and Stanford will join the nearly 10,000 current ACC student-athletes competing at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics.
 
“This summer marks a momentous occasion for the ACC with the addition of three prestigious institutions – Cal, SMU, and Stanford,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “Since our announcement last September, the conference has been diligently preparing to become an 18-member league that spans from coast to coast. We look forward to the future of this incredible league and extend a warm welcome to the student-athletes, coaches, staff, campus communities, alumni, and supporters of Cal, SMU, and Stanford into the ACC.”
 
Established in 1953 with seven charter members, the ACC’s expansion is the seventh in the league’s history and gives the league the most members that it has had in the conference’s illustrious history. The conference moved to eight members in 1979 with the addition of Georgia Tech and expanded for a second time in 1992 with Florida State. The ACC added three members in 2004 and 2005, as both Miami and Virginia Tech joined the league in 2004, followed by Boston College in 2005. Syracuse and Pitt joined in 2013, as did Notre Dame, who agreed to join the ACC in all conference-sponsored sports except football. Louisville accepted an invitation to become a full member of the ACC in 2014.
 
Cal, SMU and Stanford will begin competing in the ACC across their…