Northern Illinois University (NIU) will join the Mountain West Conference in 2026, it was announced Tuesday.
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.
“This is a truly exciting day for Northern Illinois University, for the NIU football program and for Huskie fans throughout the country,” said NIU President Lisa C. Freeman. “We are extremely pleased to accept the invitation for the Huskie football program to join a prestigious group of universities to compete in the Mountain West Conference. This move will open new opportunities for our student-athletes, expand the reach and strengthen the national brand of Huskie Football as they represent NIU and compete for championships the hard way, and the right way.”
The addition of NIU will bring the rebuilding Mountain West’s membership roster up to nine football-playing schools. NIU (football only) will join Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, UTEP, and Wyoming.
“What a great opportunity for NIU Athletics as we expand our horizons, adapt to this new national model of college athletics and prepare to start a new chapter in the history of NIU Football,” said Sean T. Frazier, NIU Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation. “We are grateful to Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and the membership of the Mountain West Conference for this invitation and to NIU President Lisa Freeman for her support as we navigated this process. The impact of this move to the Mountain West is going to be felt throughout our entire department and university. Our fans are going to enjoy the heightened competition, the media coverage and the additional opportunities the relationship with this conference and these great institutions provides.”
NIU has played in the MAC since 1997 and has won six conference championships and played in 15 FBS bowl games.
“We are excited about adding the Northern Illinois University football program to the Mountain West,” said MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez. “In evaluating NIU, the MW Board of Directors and Directors of Athletics carefully considered and were impressed by its history of football success and its commitment to academic excellence. NIU shares the Mountain West’s vision of balancing academic performance with athletic competitiveness and prioritizing opportunities for an outstanding student-athlete experience both on and off the playing field.”
Hawaii will no longer football-only beginning in 2026
seriously?
Well, that seals Texas State going to the PAC-404.
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NIU might put non-football sports back in the Horizon League to minimize travel. Clearly the MW wanted a ninth school to maintain eight conference games. If NIU is the best they can pull, they’d have been better taking NMSU as a natural and nearby UNM and UTEP rival. What a lousy MW commissioner.
David, I 100% agree with you. I can’t comprehend why they didn’t add New Mexico St. in all sports, instead.
I remember hearing on another forum that NIU has a low budget compared to other MAC schools, with football the only one they really invest in or largely a profit, could I see them Horizon League or Summit bound?
I predict that NIU will join the Missouri Valley Conference in all other sports. They are already an affiliate in men’s soccer, and are very close to other MVC schools like UIC, Valpo, Illinois State, and Bradley.
Speaking of the MVC, it’s funny how its membership has shifted over the years, that it might as well be called the Mississippi Valley Conference, or even the Wabash since none of its remaining schools are in the Missouri River watershed.
I was thinking about the Horizon League due to the proximity of the schools, but the Missouri Valley has a higher TV money and better TV listings. The MVC has games on CBS network and the conference tournament on CBS. It also is a league that can get multiple teams in the NCAA basketball tournament.
At least NIU Huskies will be My favorite in Mountain West Football when My longtime favorite Boise State will join PAC 12.
Bowling Green State Falcons will be My favorite MAC Football team.
I really don’t get this, but MAC back to 12
Unless the MAC makes more moves. Some that would make sense are UConn for football only so that every FBS program has easy access to the CFP, Youngstown State for all sports including football, and Cleveland State and Robert Morris as non-football members – CSU doesn’t play it, and RMU would keep their football program FCS (similar to how UC Davis is keeping football FBS while joining the MW). This would give the MAC a monopoly on D1 sports in NE Ohio, and bring it into the Pittsburgh market, which is important as there are many Ohio-Pittsburgh rivalries in sports notably Browns-Steelers.
MAC has such a bad tv deal they don’t want to add any more teams to split the revenue. I assume they saw this coming by adding UMass as a 13th team and not seeking another to get back to an even number. They’ve continued to look east instead of in the midwest. If they wanted to keep expanding they could have added Delaware or MissourinSt which are going to CUSA this season.
Z-Man Enjoy Football & please stop making obscured proposals you are stressing yourself out & I continue to care for you.
Browns-Steelers will dominate more than Cleveland State-Robert Morris.
Minus NIU MAC will be excellent as it is expansion is not necessary.
Every team in the MW is closer to Northern Illinois than to Hawaii