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 has been rebuilding since Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State agreed to join the Pac-12.

Northern Illinois University's football program will join the Mountain West Conference in 2026, bringing about a significant shift in collegiate athletics and prompting implications for Mid-American Conference schools like Eastern Michigan University.

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 on Tuesday announced the addition of Northern Illinois University as a football-only member beginning July 1, 2026.

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.

The university officially announced it would join the Mountain West Conference in a football-only capacity starting in 2026. The move puts the Mountain West Conference at nine teams: NIU, Air Force, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, UTEP and Wyoming.

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

Northern Illinois has accepted an invitation to join the Mountain West for football only in 2026, the school and conference announced Tuesday. The Huskies will go from the Midwest-based MAC to a conference in which the easternmost school is in Colorado Springs,