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

Northern Illinois University’s Board of Trustees are holding a special meeting this afternoon and are expected to approve the $2 million membership fee for the school’s football team to move to the Mountain West Conference.

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

The Mountain West added a perennial contender from another conference as a football-only member, giving the league nine teams for the 2026 football season.

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.

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.