Northern Illinois football is set to join the Mountain West: Here's what it means for NIU

College sports conference re-alignment is coming to Illinois.

Specifically, it's coming to Northern Illinois University.

The NIU Board of Trustees are going to discuss the membership fee for the NIU Huksies to join the Mountain West Conference as football-only members starting in the 2026 academic year, according to an agenda for a special meeting taking place on Jan. 5, 2025.

The agenda says NIU has accepted the Mountain West's formal offer, but the decision needs to be discussed because the "Obligation of financial resources" exceeds $500,000. The agenda says the fee to join the MWC is currently $2 million.

"The university has accepted a formal offer to join the Mountain West Conference ("MWC") as a football only member, effective July 1, 2026. Subject to Board of Trustees Regulations, the obligation of financial resources exceeding $500,000 requires Board of Trustees approval," the agenda says, "The details of the transaction are articulated in the Background section of this item. The University is asking the Board to approve $2M for the required membership fee to join the MWC. In intercollegiate athletics, conference membership fees and exit fees are standard."

Here's what this means for NIU.

The university is investing investing in football

NIU gave us one of the moments of the year when it upset No. 5 Notre Dame in South Bend. It was a reminder of the exciting days at NIU with Jordan Lynch and more, and this move to the Mountain West puts football in the forefront for the Huskies.

The MAC is known among college football aficionados as "MAC-tion." This is the conference that plays games consistently on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but those games are usually broadcast on ESPN+. The Mountain West currently has a $45 million media deal with CBS and Fox. That deal expires in 2026, according to the Sports Business Journal, but the MWC's multi-year deal with TNT Sports that began in 2024 is still a better situation than ESPN+.

The board of trustees will still have to approve the move. They most likely will – conference realignment moves don't usually make it this far without agreement all across the board – but in that approval is the idea of how much the move will benefit NIU.

Football has been the engine that's driven most of the realignments we've seen in recent years, from Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, UCLA and USC to the Big Ten, to even smaller moves like Southern Utah leaving the Big Sky Conference for the Western Athletic Conference. The Mountain West gives NIU more football revenue which will pay off, literally, in the longer run.

"NIU will pay a membership fee of $2M to join the MWC, payable in six annual installments of $333,33.35," the agenda says. "The costs to support the transition to the MWC, including travel, staffing, rebranding, and exit fees will be primarily offset by increased revenues from multimedia rights, revenue distributions, and guarantees from the conference as well as anticipated enhancements in revenue from ticket sales and donations."

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 07: Northern Illinois Huskies quarterback Ethan Hampton (2) talks in a huddle in action during a game between the Northern Illinois Huskies the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on September 7, 2024, at Notre Dame Stadium in South

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Northern Illinois move to the Mountain West most likely means another move is coming

Spurning the MAC for the MWC most likely won't sit well with the MAC. A half breakup never does.

According to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd, the MAC most likely won't allow the Huskies to keep their Olympic sports in the MAC while football saunters off to another conference. That means NIU will need to move from the MAC to another adjacent conference.

The first three that come to mind are: Missouri Valley Conference, Ohio Valley Conference and Horizon League.

An invitation to the MVC would be a perfect fit for NIU. The MVC houses Southern Illinois. Bradley and Illinois-Chicago, giving NIU three immediate in-state teams the Huskies can form rivalries with in Olympic sports. The MVC does have room as Missouri State is departing the conference for the Conference-USA in an effort to move its football program from the FCS to the FBS level.

But, that depends on where the MVC is looking currently. If they'd prefer to add a team in Missouri to keep its Missouri foothold, that would make sense.

Alternatively, the Ohio Valley Conference has two in-state teams in Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois. The Horizon League also four teams – Green Bay, Indiana University Indianapolis, Purdue University Fort Wayne and Wisconsin-Milwaukee – in adjacent states. Any massive travel costs NIU would incur in the Mountain West going to Nevada, Hawaii, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming could be offset with a lighter travel schedule within the Horizon League, MVC or OVC.