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,

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,

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.

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.

Northern Illinois University’s Board of Trustees approved a football-only move from the Mid-American Conference, or MAC, to the Mountain West Conference. Peter Medlin

DEKALB (WREX) — Northern Illinois University has accepted an invitation for the Huskies to join the Mountain West Conference as a football only member beginning in 2026, NIU and the Mountain West announced Tuesday. The announcement came following a meeting of the NIU Board of Trustees.

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 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,

Another football program is set to join the Mountain West. The conference announced on Tuesday that Northern Illinois (NIU) will join the league as a football-only addition on July 1, 2026. NIU comes to the Mountain West from the MAC.