CHARLOTTE — There is another conference that is expanding here in 2023, and this time it concerns one that’s primarily on the East Coast.

But now the Atlantic Coast Conference is going to have representation on the West Coast and Texas.

The conference announced that the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and Southern Methodist University have been added as new members. All three schools will join the ACC in the 2024-2025 academic year, expanding the conference to 18 teams.

Per numerous reports, the three schools were accepted by a vote of 12-3 from current ACC members.

Previously, the conference had only gone as far west as Notre Dame, which has most of its spots participating in that conference. The farthest west football member of the ACC previously was Louisville.

“We are thrilled to welcome three world-class institutions to the ACC, and we look forward to having them compete as part of our amazing league,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips in a statement. “Throughout the evaluation process, the ACC Board of Directors, led by President Ryan, was deliberate in prioritizing the best possible athletic and academic experience for our student-athletes and in ensuring that the three universities would strengthen the league in all possible ways. Cal, SMU and Stanford will be terrific members of the ACC and we are proud to welcome their student-athletes, coaches, staff and entire campus community, alumni and fans.”

This comes on the heels of a number of major expansions with other conferences that will change the landscape of college athletics in the coming years. The Big Ten is adding four West Coast teams starting in 2024-2025 – Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington.

Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah will join the Big 12 conference in 2024-2025 after adding BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston this year. Oklahoma and Texas, current members of the Big 12, will join the Southeastern Conference next year.