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 announced the addition of Northern Illinois University as a football-only member beginning July 1, 2026. The 2026 MW football season will include the Air Force Academy, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa,

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

NIU will officially join the Mountain West on July 1, 2026 and will compete in the conference as a football-only member. The Huskies’ remaining sports will either remain in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) or will move to another conference in the future.

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.

According to Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, Northern Illinois will leave the Mid-American Conference and join the Mountain West Conference as a football-only member for the

All of the changes we’re seeing in college football from conference realignments to the transfer portal and NIL has forced Northern Illinois University to make a move to keep up or to stay a step ahead.