DEKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University Athletics begins a new era as the Huskies formally join the Horizon League, Mountain West Conference and Pac-12 Conference ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
NIU programs will compete in the Horizon League in men's and women's basketball, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, women's cross country, women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, baseball and softball. Huskie football and women's gymnastics join the Mountain West while the NIU wrestling program becomes of a member of the Pac-12.
Huskie football joined the Mountain West as a football member on Jan. 7, 2025. The winningest Division I football program in the State of Illinois since 2010, the Huskies have recorded 19 winning seasons this century. NIU football won six Mid-American Conference championships and made nine MAC Championship Game appearances, the Huskies have played in 15 bowl games since 2004. The NIU gymnastics program joined football in moving to the Mountain West beginning with the upcoming school year on Oct. 2, 2025.
NIU football will be joined in the Mountain West by Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota State, San Jose State, UNLV, UTEP and Wyoming, while gymnastics will compete alongside Air Force, UC Davis and San Jose State.
The move to the Horizon League for 14 of NIU's 17 sports was announced on Feb. 27, 2025. NIU was previously a member of the Horizon League – then known as the Midwestern Collegiate Conference – from 1994-97. Five different Huskie teams won eight league titles during that time. NIU won the McCafferty Trophy, awarded annually to the league's all-sport champion, following the 1995-96 academic year.
NIU will compete in the Horizon League with Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Green Bay, IU Indy, Milwaukee, Northern Kentucky, Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne, Robert Morris, Wright State and Youngstown State.
Huskie wrestling was announced as an affiliate member of the Pac-12 on Oct. 1, 2025. NIU wrestling has a proud tradition having sent wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in 55 consecutive years while winning over 900 dual matches in program history.
In addition to NIU, the Pac-12 wrestling conference will include Air Force, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Little Rock, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, Oregon State and South Dakota State.
This past year, the Huskie baseball team won a school record 36 games, which included winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament and winning a NCAA Tournament game for the first time in program history. The NIU men's soccer team won a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, five Huskies claimed individual conference championships while the Huskie track and field and wrestling programs had athletes qualify for NCAA postseason competition.
In the classroom, NIU student-athletes posted a 3.334 grade point average during the 2026 spring semester, with every sport program recording a 3.0 or better cumulative GPA. A total of 298 Huskie student-athletes recorded a GPA of 3.0 or better with 47 posting perfect 4.0 GPAs.
NIU Athletics was also a top-five finalist for the NACDA Community Service Award as 90 percent of Huskie student-athletes participated in more than 3,300 community service hours, with over 40 percent of those hours dedicated to children and youth programs in surrounding communities.
Season tickets for the inaugural season of Huskie football in the Mountain West are available now, beginning at just $102, and season tickets for the first season of Huskie volleyball in the Horizon League are also available. Tickets can be purchased online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets, by calling the NIU Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225) weekdays between 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. or by emailing, huskiestickets@niu.edu.
