Report: Mountain West interested in adding NIU, Toledo for football

The Mountain West Conference has notified the MAC of its interest in NIU and Toledo in joining the league as football-only members, according to Brett McMurphy of Action Network in a social media post on Thursday night.

NIU athletic director Sean Frazier was not available for comment late Thursday night. A spokesperson for the school said he was already with a group of students in Raleigh, North Carolina ahead of Saturday’s football game against NC State and his availability Friday is uncertain.

While five Mountain West schools announced they will join the Pac-12, seven remaining schools on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding they will stay with the league through 2032, but would need eight full members to be recognized as an FBS conference per NCAA rules.

Air Force, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Wyoming are the current full members while Hawaii is a football-only member.

The Huskies and Rockets have appeared in 11 MAC Championship games since 2010, with NIU winning five times and Toledo twice. With the elimination of divisions this year, the two teams could theoretically play each other for the league title, although the Huskies have started league play 0-1 after a loss to Buffalo.

NIU spent three years in the Big West conference from 1993 through 1995. UNLV, New Mexico State and San Jose State were members at that time. The Huskies went 3-3 each year in the conference and were 11-22 overall in those seasons under Charlie Sadler.

The team went independent in 1996 with new coach Joe Novak before rejoining the MAC in 1997.

It’s not known what would happen to the other NIU sports, if they would be allowed to stay in the MAC or if they would join another conference such as the Horizon League or Missouri Valley Conference.