Northern Illinois to Replace Utah State in Mountain West?

Being a college football fan in today’s world is being familiar with the oddities that currently surround the sport.

Whether it be NIL money, the new playoff format or ever changing conferences seemingly realigning by the year, college football is in uncharted territory.

Fans here in Utah have seen the whirlwind first hand with the three FBS football programs all taking conference changes head on.

BYU happily joined the Big 12 in 2023 leaving their independent lifestyle behind.

Utah followed suit for the 2024 season after the power 5 Pac-12 self-destructed.

Now Utah State is set to play their last football season in the Mountain West, where they have resided since 2013, in the upcoming 2025 year, before joining the revamped Pac-12.

Despite the Pac-12 no longer carrying the “power conference” status that it did when the Utes were around, the conference is hopeful to be one of the elite Group of five (soon to be six) conferences that can send a representative to the playoffs on the yearly.

The retooled Pac-12 has plucked some of the better teams out of the Mountain West to join Oregon State and Washington State for the 2026 season including:

Boise State

Fresno State

San Diego State

Colorado State

Gonzaga (Basketball only)

With Utah State amongst them, the Pac-12 will still need one more football member before the 2026 season to be recognized as a legitimate conference meaning more realignment will happen before the dust ever settles.

As you could imagine, this would leave Utah State’s old stomping grounds rather empty after the 2025 season, losing 5 of their 12 members.

In need of adding more teams to save the now short-handed Mountain West, they moved quickly.

They plucked the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from Conference USA in October for the 2026 season.

A couple weeks later they had football only member, Hawaii, commit to becoming a full time member of the Mountain West, giving them enough to meet conference requirements when the changes take place.

But the Mountain West rolls on, looking to snatch up as many teams or as close to it as they lost, understanding that strength in numbers is important in today’s environment of conference poachers.

They added basketball only members in Grand Canyon University and UC-Davis to elevate the action on the hardwood, but still seem to wanting to make more football moves.

Though all the action and drama, two other teams have been linked to the Mountain West from the start of the drama, as potential “football only” members.

Those are current Mid-American Conference members, Northern Illinois University and the University of Toledo.

That’s right, the very same NIU team that upset Notre Dame on the road this year before losing to Buffalo the very next week on their way to a 6th place conference finish.

Since then, it appears that the Mountain West has dialed in on NIU specifically in hopes of adding the Huskies and then being content with the new look according to Brett McMurphy.

The mountains of Northern Illinois don’t necessarily scream Mountain West, and the MAC conference where the Huskies currently have been for 28 years is one of the last geographically sound conferences.

But in today’s era of college football, historic rivalries, tight knit conferences and logistical sense aren’t required.

It’s about money and survival, and the Mountain West potentially bringing in NIU as a football member increases their odds of survival.

Per Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, the offer is on the table and “a decision on whether or not the Huskies will leave the MAC for the Mountain West is “imminent””.

Whatever NIU ends up deciding on will continue to tip the ever moving scale on who goes where and when it happens as stability is a thing of the past.

One way or another expect an answer soon on if the Mountain West has found another fill-in for the Aggies and friends.