Y’all ever hear of a team trading in their Midwest winters for a shot at sunnier skies and tougher competition? The post College Football Program Set to Leave Conference in Big Expansion Move by 2026 appeared first on EssentiallySports.

The Huskies will go from the MAC to a league in which the easternmost school is in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Northern Illinois University’s Board of Trustees will vote on whether NIU's football team will leave the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Peter Medlin

The university officially announced it would join the Mountain West Conference in a football-only capacity starting in 2026. The move puts the Mountain West Conference at nine teams: NIU, Air Force, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, UTEP and Wyoming.

The Northern Illinois Huskies’ football team will be joining the Mountain West Conference, leaving the Mid-American Conference that it had been a member of for nearly 30 years.

Northern Illinois University’s Board of Trustees approved a football-only move from the Mid-American Conference, or MAC, to the Mountain West Conference. Peter Medlin

Northern Illinois confirmed on Tuesday that it is joining the Mountain West in 2026 as a football-only member.

Northern Illinois has accepted an invitation to join the Mountain West for football only in 2026, the school and conference announced Tuesday. The Huskies will go from the Midwest-based MAC to a conference in which the easternmost school is in Colorado Springs,