Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. - Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford announced today the future scheduling formats as approved by the ACC's Faculty Athletic Representatives and Athletics Directors.

The announcement was made following the annual ACC Winter Meetings and will go in effect once Pittsburgh and Syracuse become playing members in the conference.

"We have been engaged in discussions on the various options for integrating Pitt and Syracuse since early fall," said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. "It's a tremendous tribute to the leadership at our schools that we will be able to seamlessly add Pitt and Syracuse at the appropriate time when they become full playing members."

A breakdown of the future scheduling models include:

LAS VEGAS -- The Mountain West Conference will ask for an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series for the 2012 and '13 seasons.

The MWC announced Monday that its board of directors approved making the request.

The BCS rules allow a league without automatic qualifying status to request an exemption for the next two seasons if its teams met certain performance standards from 2008-2011.

The MW met those standards, with the help of TCU earning bids in 2009 and '10. The MW was also aided by Boise State and TCU's performances this season.

Boise State finished seventh in the final BCS standings and conference champion TCU was 18th, though neither earned an automatic bid to the four marquee bowl games.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 on Monday night, seizing an opportunity to be a part of a conference with natural geographic rivals despite the league's recent instability.

The board of trustees unanimously approved the move and Chancellor Victor Boschini Jr. made the expected announcement in front a packed room of more than 200 people. Athletic director Chris Del Conte fought back tears as he recalled receiving the phone call from the Horned Frogs' new conference last week.

"This is living proof that dreams do come true," he said.

The move could provide some much-needed stability for the Big 12, which lost Nebraska (Big Ten) and Colorado (Pac-12) over the summer and will lose Texas A&M to the Southeastern Conference next year. Missouri is also exploring a move to the SEC.