Sources - ACC votes to invite Stanford, Cal, SMU - ESPN

The Atlantic Coast Conference is expanding from its Eastern roots.

The ACC presidents and chancellors met Friday morning and voted to add three schools — Stanford, Cal and SMU, sources told ESPN. It will bring the league to 18 members — 17 will play football full time in the league. The additions are in all sports and will begin in the 2024-25 school year.

The moves have been the subject of much drama the past month, as commissioner Jim Phillips worked diligently to appease a group of members eager to add the schools and others seeking more revenue. The protracted process ultimately ended with the ACC growing amid a backdrop that brought to light some of the fundamental tensions within the league.

The move unfolded in an atypical process, as votes in league matters usually are cast as unanimous and are simply a formality when the presidents meet to decide. The ACC needed 12 of 15 votes. Heading into the meeting Friday morning, it was uncertain whether the league had votes, a significant variance from how conference expansion typically works.

In a straw poll more than three weeks ago, four ACC schools dissented — Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina and NC State. One of them needed to flip for the vote to pass, and all eyes were on NC State chancellor Randy Woodson going into the meeting.

It was a 12-3 vote Friday with NC State flipping, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN's Andrea Adelson.

The focus on Woodson intensified Thursday night when members of the University of North Carolina's board of trustees issued a statement to voice their objection to the additions. That move was perceived around the ACC as a political statement to be sure that UNC chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz didn't flip his vote.

UNC and NC State did