LAS VEGAS — Northern Illinois has an offer to join the Mountain West as a football-only member in 2026, industry sources told Action Network.
A decision on whether or not the Huskies will leave the MAC for the Mountain West is “imminent,” sources said.
If NIU joins the Mountain West, it’s unknown what conference its non-football sports programs will join, sources said.
The addition of NIU would increase the Mountain West’s football membership to nine schools in 2026: Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, NIU, San Jose State, UNLV, UTEP and Wyoming.
The MW is also adding Grand Canyon and UC Davis as non-football members, giving the league 10 basketball members.
After losing five schools to the Pac-12, the addition of NIU, along with UTEP and Grand Canyon, is expected to end the Mountain West’s expansion, sources said.
In September, Action Network first reported that Mountain West had initiated discussions with Northern Illinois and Toledo as potential football-only members.
However, the league settled on adding only one football member and targeted NIU, a source said.
NIU will bolster the Mountain West’s football brand. This season, the Huskies pulled off college football’s biggest upset of the year, stunning then-No. 5 Notre Dame as 28-point underdogs in South Bend, Ind.
In the past four years, Northern Illinois has won a MAC Championship and pulled off upsets on the road at power conference programs Notre Dame, Boston College and Georgia Tech. NIU was ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll after this year’s upset win at Notre Dame.
Adding NIU gives the Mountain West league members based in four time zones — Hawaii, Pacific, Mountain and Central — potentially increasing the league’s future media rights value.
Located in DeKalb, Illinois, 60 miles west of Chicago, the Huskies have been a fixture in the postseason, earning bowl bids in 13 of the past 17 seasons, including the 2013 Orange Bowl.
Since 2011, NIU has won five MAC football titles, more than any other school.
Thomas Hammock, a former standout running back at NIU, has been the head coach at his alma mater since 2019. Excluding the 2020 COVID season, NIU has had three consecutive winning seasons under Hammock. The Huskies will play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Fresno State on Dec. 23.
NIU has been a member of the MAC for the past 28 years. The Huskies were also in the MAC from 1975-85 until leaving to be independent in football.
From 1993-95, the Huskies were members of the Big West Conference and will be reunited with former Big West/current Mountain West schools UNLV, San Jose State and Nevada.
Utah State also was in the Big West with NIU in that three-year span, but the Aggies are leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12 in 2026.
Utah State is one of five schools moving from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 in 2026, along with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State.
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