The Mountain West Conference has announced the addition of Northern Illinois in football after the school's board of trustees approved the move on Tuesday. Northern Illinois, which will begin competing in the conference in 2026,

The Mountain West Conference will have nine football-playing members for the 2026 season.  Northern Illinois was officially introduced as the latest member of t

The Huskies will go from the MAC to a league in which the easternmost school is in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

NIU has agreed to leave the MAC to join the Mountain West in football only and the NIU Board of Trustees will discuss the move this week. Here's what that move means for the Huskies.

The Northern Illinois Huskies’ football team will be joining the Mountain West Conference, leaving the Mid-American Conference that it had been a member of for nearly 30 years.

The addition of Northern Illinois gives the Mountain West nine football members. With it comes the ability to play a full 8-game conference slate. It also expands the MW footprint into Illinois and the coveted Chicago market. NIU is located 65 miles west of Chicago and currently plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

Northern Illinois’ board of trustees will meet Tuesday to discuss and vote on the acceptance of an invitation to join the Mountain West as a football-only member in 2026.

Northern Illinois University will be joining the Mountain West Conference as a football only member in 2026. The announcement was made Tuesday amid a shakeup in the conference, which saw the addition of UTEP and UC Davis to its ranks.

The conference will expand to the Central Time Zone as it welcomed Northern Illinois as a football-only member on Tuesday. The Huskies, whose Board of Regents voted to accept an invitation that comes with a $2 million entry fee, will officially join the Mountain West on July 1, 2026.