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 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 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.

The addition of Northern Illinois gives the Mountain West nine football members. With it comes the ability to play a full 8-game conference slate. It also expands the MW footprint into Illinois and the coveted Chicago market. NIU is located 65 miles west of Chicago and currently plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).