It appears that the first dominos to major conference realignment have begun to fall.

According to reports by CBSSports.com and ESPN.com, Pittsburgh and Syracuse — two of the Big East Conference's cornerstone members — have applied for membership in the ACC Conference. Both reports cited unnamed sources within the conference's hierarchy.

The CBSSports.com report quoted unnamed conference officials from both leagues saying that both schools are "likely gone."

Big East Conference spokesman John Paquette told The Star-Ledger Saturday morning via email: "We have no comment."

The apparent moves come just hours after the New York Times reported late Friday night that the two schools were investigating making the jump to the ACC.

Should the move come to fruition, it could lead to the major conference realignment shifts that many have been fearing for the past two years.

It would be the second time in the past decade that the ACC Conference has plucked some of the strongest members of the Big East Conference away from the league. Virginia Tech and Miami left the Big East for the ACC in 2004, with Boston College joining them a year later.

That forced the Big East to pluck Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida for all sports with Marquette and DePaul joining as non-football members.

But with Syracuse and Pittsburgh potentially leaving major gaps in football and basketball, it could force the Big East to get even more aggressive in the expansion front or risk being picked apart by other growing super-conferences. The league is set to add TCU next year, but with uneasiness in the Big 12, they Horned Frogs have been bandied about as a potential replacement for departing schools.

The Big 12 lost Colorado to the new Pac-12 Conference beginning this year and Nebraska to the Big 10 Conference beginning next year. Texas A&M announced this summer that it will move to the SEC Conference next year, which has caused Oklahoma to reportedly begin discussions with the Pac-12.

Syracuse is one of the founding members of the conference, dating back to 1979, with Pittsburgh joining in 1982.

Staff writer Brendan Prunty contributed to this story.