Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

[MLcardinalfan]

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/43324617/northern-illinois-join-mountain-west-football-only-26

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

This is less surprising than that time No. Illinois beat Notre Dame.
Maybe the MAC could replace them with Washington State or Oregon State, lol.

[Solidice]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

This is less surprising than that time No. Illinois beat Notre Dame.
Maybe the MAC could replace them with Washington State or Oregon State, lol.

I believe UMass is already going back to MAC next season.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

I believe UMass is already going back to MAC next season.

Indeed. Leaves the MAC with 12 unless Toledo gets poached too.

Mountain West will now have 9 for football. So they can do an 8 game season.

Pac-12 is sitting at just 7. They still need one full time member, and realistically should probably shoot for another additional full time member to get to 9 football, 10 total members.

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[SilverBullet19]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

I’m anxiously awaiting PAC news. They’re coming down to a time crunch to get the additional member in time.

[sherrane]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

Indeed. Leaves the MAC with 12 unless Toledo gets poached too.

Mountain West will now have 9 for football. So they can do an 8 game season.

Pac-12 is sitting at just 7. They still need one full time member, and realistically should probably shoot for another additional full time member to get to 9 football, 10 total members.

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I’m anxiously awaiting PAC news. They’re coming down to a time crunch to get the additional member in time.

Who else is available? I wonder if the MWC made this move out of the concern the Pac-12 is going to come after UNLV or another MWC school.



I wonder if the Pac-12 expected Tulane, Memphis, and USF to join. Add those three to their MWC additions and that gets them back to a power conference in my opinion. I understand why the American teams stayed because the American might be considered a better conference than the rebuilt Pac-12 is without them and they won't burn their travel budget.

[BullPredator29]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

Didn't the MWC make UNLV and the remaining members sign a contract saying they are going to stay?

PAC should've jumped on UTEP, their athletic profit wasn't too bad and were still in the Mountain Time Zone.

North Texas didn't pledge allegiance to American and is closer than Tulane, Memphis, and USF. They got a new stadium recently and are close to the DFW metroplex.

I've been rooting to the PAC to come back from the dead, but I don't know who is left that is: FBS, Close, decent at sports

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

The existing Mountain West teams are locked in. It's possible Hawaii or UTEP don't have the same level of commitment yet, but they seem unlikely.

The Pac making another run at UTSA/Memphis/Tulane/USF seems very possible; they didn't have anything resembling a rights deal to present last time around, and definitely lowballed them on the exit fees. And having Gonzaga in the conference for basketball now is probably appealing to Memphis especially. Texas State is also a possibility. Something like Sacramento State would be an extreme fallback plan.


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[BullPredator29]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

I think they need the 9th member to be an FBS football member or they can't have a conference champion, so Sacramento state might be in a few years or so... Tarleton State is another FCS add-on that might work in a few years.

[BullPredator29]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

They might be trying to get a couple schools from The American jump together so they can have a bigger footprint on the other side of the country and make the travel more attractive to those teams.

I feel Texas is a state they need to have influence in, so Texas St., UTSA, or even North Texas might be a part of the negotiations. If they had interest in Tarelton or Abilene Christian for the future those teams make even more sense.

[Fusker]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

Really should have tried to find a way to join forces with the MWC instead of choosing violence. This could have been finished by now.

[sherrane]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

I think they need the 9th member to be an FBS football member or they can't have a conference champion, so Sacramento state might be in a few years or so... Tarleton State is another FCS add-on that might work in a few years.

It is 8 schools that are required for FBS conferences. They can still hold a conference championship game provided the conference schedule is a round robin (every team plays each other). One of the concerns from a TV standpoint is that the conference championship game will be a rematch from a regular season game, which may reduce its value to the network. The champion will be eligible to compete in the playoffs.



The Pac-12 will need to request an additional waiver from the NCAA if they cannot find one more football playing member for the 2026 season. While the NCAA has granted waivers in the past it is not guaranteed. Before Boston College joined the ACC, the conference requested a waiver to hold a Conference Championship game with 11 members, which was rejected.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: Northern Illinois joining Mountain West in 2026

One of the concerns from a TV standpoint is that the conference championship game will be a rematch from a regular season game, which may reduce its value to the network.

That was the case before this past season. I *think* the Sunbelt is the only conference to use divisions now. The networks are going to just have to suck it up in regards to possible rematches. If Michigan hadn't upset Ohio State, the Big Ten would have had a rematch. The SEC had a rematch with Texas and Georgia, and I believe we aren't too far away from having college football's first three games between two teams in one season. At least on the FBS level. I suppose its possible it could have already happened at the FCS level.