Report: Mountain West Expected To Add Northern Illinois As Football Only Member
Jan 3, 2025, 3:30 PM
A football with the Mountain West logo on display at the 2024 MW media days in Las Vegas.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – After losing five programs to the new-look Pac-12 Conference, the Mountain West Conference expects the Northern Illinois Huskies to accept an invite for football next week.
Action Network college football insider Brett McMurphy first reported Northern Illinois’ intention on Friday, January 3.
Breaking: Northern Illinois’ board on Tuesday expected to accept offer to join Mountain West as football-only member in 2026, industry sources said. The addition of MAC’s most successful program gives MW 9 football schools, stretching 4 time zones. NIU expected to receive…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 3, 2025
With the exit of Utah State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State, the Mountain West was forced to consider expansion to maintain NCAA recognition as an FBS conference heading into 2026.
Shortly after Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, and San Diego State announced their intention to leave the MW, USU became the fifth school to jump ship for the Pac-12.
RELATED: USU Defends Decision To Exit Mountain West, Join Pac-12
Grand Canyon University and UC Davis have accepted invitations to join the new-look conference as non-football members. Grand Canyon will leave the WAC while UC Davis jumps from the Big Sky Conference.
The Mountain West was born in 1999 when Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Utah, and Wyoming broke away from the Western Athletic Conference. SDSU, UNLV, and New Mexico accepted invites to the new league and began competing in the 1999-2000 academic year.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball coverage here.
