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, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, San José State, UNLV, Texas, El Paso and Wyoming.

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

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.

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 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 will vote on whether NIU's football team will leave the Mid-American Conference (MAC). 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.