(GREENSBORO). – It is another seismic shift in the world of college athletics. Less than 48 hours after reports first surfaced, The Atlantic Coast Conference officially announced it has given invites to Pitt and Syracuse to join the league. That would create for now, a 14 team ACC that would make it the largest major conference as other realignments are still being talked about.

“The ACC is a strong united conference that is only going to get better with the addition of the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University,” said Duke University President Richard Broadhead, chair of the ACC Council of Presidents in a press release issued early Sunday.  “Both schools are committed to competing at the highest level of academics and athletics.  We welcome them as full partners in the ACC.”

This isn’t the first time the ACC has invited a team from the Big East to join. Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech were part of that conference and jumped when the ACC increased from 9 to 12 teams, which allows for a football championship game. Syracuse was considered during that period, but Virginia Tech was invited instead.

The change would leave the Big East, originally created as a basketball league, with only six football teams currently. TCU is set to join the league next year.  The league allows Notre Dame to participate in all sports, with the exception of football where it is independent.  It is not clear if the other Big East Schools have any recourse.

“The ACC has enjoyed a rich tradition by balancing academics and athletics and the addition of Pitt and Syracuse further strengthens the ACC culture in this regard,” said Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford. “Pittsburgh and Syracuse also serve to enhance the ACC’s reach into the states of New York and Pennsylvania and geographically bridges our footprint between Maryland and Massachusetts. With the addition of Pitt and Syracuse, the ACC will cover virtually the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States.”

Observers are expecting additional developments involving schools such as Texas, Texas A & M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. That could lead to the implosion of the Big 12, which lost Colorado and Nebraska last year and is actually a ten-team league.  The SEC and Pac 12 are also eyeing expansion that would further consolidate the major so-called “power conferences” in college sports. The changes could also reduce by two the number of conferences with automatic bids in the Bowl Championship Series.