The lone remaining charter member of the MAC has seemingly started to put out feelers for a new athletic home, per reports.
Months after the drama surrounding the departure of Northern Illinois for the Mountain West Conference, new reporting has emerged NIU may not be the only MAC school interested in looking at other options.
Per Shane Mettlen of the Harrisburg, Virginia-based Daily News-Record, officials from Ohio University have “expressed interest” in the Sun Belt Conference, with “preliminary” discussions taking place over the last few weeks following Texas State’s impending departure for the re-configured PAC-12 Conference.
Mettlen reports there are no impending moves from either Ohio or the Sun Belt Conference as of yet, saying the discussions “may be more about establishing relationships for the future” and “gauging interest” as industry projections currently suggest another major shift in the college football landscape within the next 5-10 years.
The Sun Belt has also been linked with Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky (both current members of Conference USA), and are still yet to decide if they will stick with 13 members or add a 14th member for the 2026 season.
All the talk of movement in the MAC, one of the FBS’ most stable conferences of the last two decades, started in earnest in February 2024, when the conference announced the addition of long-time FBS independent UMass as a full-time member in February 2024, with the Minutemen officially joined the league last week.
A few months later in September, the Mountain West Conference announced their intention to discuss conference affiliation with NIU and Toledo. NIU ultimately accepted the invitation, opting to leave the MAC as a full-time member and split their affiliations between the Mountain West and the Horizon League effective July 2026.
It goes without saying Ohio leaving the MAC would mark new territory for the conference; Ohio is the lone MAC charter member remaining, with Western Michigan and Miami University being the next-oldest members joining in 1948.
While no move from Ohio is likely imminent, the fact discussions have been established and it was the university making the first move suggests real interest. Mettlen also mentioned Ohio was not the only member of the MAC to reach out to the Sun Belt— though Ohio is the only named university in the report.
Metllen’s reporting suggests Ohio— and perhaps other MAC members— express concerns with the conference’s broadcaster-influenced decision to schedule weeknight games leading to declining attendance at games and that the conference’s most recent full-member additions (Buffalo in 1999 and UMass in 2025) have or will resulted in increased travel costs.
For now, the MAC will sit at 13 full members in 2025 before shrinking to 12 starting in the 2026 season.
As of publication, there has been no comment from Ohio University or the Sun Belt regarding any potential discussions. This is considered a developing story and will be updated as such.