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Greensboro
The Atlantic Coast Conference's presidents and chancellors voted Sunday to invite Boston College to join the league as its 12th member.
If the school accepts, the ACC would have enough members to stage a lucrative league championship football game.
"Now that the vote has been taken, we look forward to a strong academic partnership and collaboration should Boston College accept," North Carolina State chancellor Marye Anne Fox told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo would only say Sunday morning that he had "no confirmation" of the offer.
An ACC spokesman said the league had scheduled a news conference later Sunday where Commissioner John Swofford was expected to formally announce the offer to Boston College.
Miami and Virginia Tech were added to the nine-team conference in June and will begin play in 2004.
Boston College and Syracuse were the Big East schools in the ACC's original expansion plans, but were voted down in favor of adding the Hurricanes and Hokies.
ACC bylaws require campus visits of each school being considered for prospective membership. That requirement was satisfied before ACC presidents initially rejected Boston College for membership in June.
NCAA rules require that a conference have 12 schools to stage a league championship game.
At least seven of the nine current ACC member schools had to approve offering membership to Boston College. It was not immediately known Sunday how many voted in favor of expansion.
This summer, Boston College was rejected as an expansion candidate when the heads of Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State voted in opposition.
The other members of the ACC are Virginia, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest and Clemson.
