It is located in Northern Michigan and contains seveenteen teams that encompasses fourteen counties: Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Crawford, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Iosco, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Mackinac, Ogemaw and Otsego.

On October 6, 2015, Traverse City Christian announced that it would not be joining the NMFL and that Mesick would be replacing them in the conference on a two-year trial basis.

This aligns the league, with the exception of Traverse City St. Francis, to divisions based on enrollment sizes, with the Legends being the largest, Leaders being the middle, and Legacy being the smallest schools.

Former North Star League foes Rogers City & Lincoln-Alcona were both originally set the join the Legacy Division, but opted instead to drop to 8-Man Football.

[10] In September 2022 it was announced that effective Fall 2023, the Big North Conference would add Marquette, Escanaba and NMFL member, Sault Ste.