Northern Illinois is considering an offer to join the Mountain West Conference as a football-only member, according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. The Huskies have been continuous members of the MAC since 1997, and it’s unclear where their remaining sports would play should NIU leave the league.
If NIU accepts the offer, the Mountain West would be up to nine football-playing members with UTEP and NIU joining the seven legacy members. An FBS league is required to have at least eight members to be recognized by the NCAA as a conference, and the addition of NIU would provide some cushion. It was previously reported the MWC was considering Texas State, NIU and Toledo as potential members, but the Bobcats later rebuffed interest.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Mountain West added UC Davis as a non-football member. The Aggies football program will continue to play as a FCS member of the Big Sky. Grand Canyon also previously joined as a non-football member, bringing the basketball league to 10.
The latest round of realignment was set off during the season after the Pac-12 made an aggressive play by poaching Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Utah State as football members to join Oregon State and Washington State. The group also nabbed Gonzaga as a boost to its basketball presence. The Pac-12 still needs to add at least one more school to reach the eight-member minimum.
The MAC is set to add UMass as a full member starting with the 2025 season, meaning its numbers will not be impacted by NIU’s departure. However, the Huskies have been a highly successful member of the conference in recent memory, winning five MAC titles under three different coaches since 2011. NIU also pulled a historic upset over Notre Dame in Week 2.
NIU previously left the MAC in 1986 and was a member of the Big West with Mountain West schools UNLV, Nevada and San Jose State from 1993-95.
