Fansided

Even the MAC isn't safe from conference realignment, and fans are heartbroken

Another Group of Five conference is reportedly snagging an unlikely member of the MAC.

By Austen Bundy

Sep 7, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Northern Illinois Huskies head coach Thomas Hammock watches in the first quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
Sep 7, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Northern Illinois Huskies head coach Thomas Hammock watches in the first quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
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Just when we all thought conference realignment was settling down for the time being, it decided to rear its ugly head and take a bite out of the beloved Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Per Action Network's Brett McMurphy, the Mountain West Conference has reportedly come to an agreement to acquire Northern Illinois as a football-only member starting in 2026. The Huskies are the MAC's most successful program and expect to receive far more revenue out West than it would staying where it is.

Northern Illinois rose to national prominence most recently this season after it pulled off a massive 16-14 upset over Notre Dame in South Bend during Week 2.

MAC fans are heartbroken to see NIU leave for the Mountain West

With the news of NIU's impending departure, fans of the MAC are finding it hard to believe. Several traditions the Huskies brought to the table will seemingly be finished permanently.

Most importantly, NIU's rivalry with Ball State known as "The Battle for the Bronze Stalk" will have seen its final installment taken place earlier this season. The two won't play again in 2025 and the all-time series will finish at 25-25-2 after Ball State won the last three meetings.

With the departure of five schools for the newly revamped Pac-12 (Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State), the addition of NIU in football and also Grand Canyon plus UC Davis in basketball, the new-look Mountain West will incredibly span four time zones.

College football is going to look a lot different when the 2026-27 season kicks off. There could be even more shuffling amongst conferences before then, especially with legal decisions on NIL and revenue sharing coming down in the upcoming months.

But the MAC is just the latest victim in the seismic growing pains college football is going through at the moment. It too shall pass but an entirely new landscape will emerge a

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