1985 saw only a few changes in terms of conference and team changes.
1985 I-AA (FCS) Over I-A (FBS) Victories (22)
- Cal State Fullerton @ Montana, 31-30
- Richmond @ Virginia Tech, 24-14
- Kent State @ Akron, 24-0
- Navy @ Delaware, 16-13
- Louisiana @ Louisiana Tech, 24-23
- Ohio @ Marshall, 31-7
- Nevada @ Cal State Fullerton, 30-3
- Northern Iowa @ Kansas State, 10-6
- Eastern Michigan @ Akron, 16-12
- Furman @ North Carolina State, 42-20
- Oregon State @ Grambling State, 23-6
- North Texas @ Kansas State, 22-10
- Drake @ Iowa State, 20-17
- Wichita State @ Texas-Arlington, 31-3
- Wichita State @ West Texas A&M, 33-21
- Eastern Washington @ Long Beach State, 30-23
- Temple @ Delaware, 17-10
- Wichita State @ Illinois State, 26-0
- UNLV @ Nevada, 48-7
- Eastern Kentucky @ Louisville, 45-21
- McNeese @ Louisiana, 14-3
- West Texas A&M @ New Mexico State, 55-25
There was one tie between I-A and I-AA teams in 1985:
- Murray State @ Memphis, 10-10
Playoff Bracket, Notes, and National Champion
For the fourth straight season, the I-AA Playoffs saw no changes. 12 teams were selected with the top four seeds receiving a bye and campus sites used for the first three rounds. The title game was held in the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington for the first time on December 21.
The home team is listed on the bottom of each matchup in the bracket below while an asterisk (*) denotes the number of overtime periods played if a game went to overtime. Georgia Southern (13-2 Overall as I-AA Independent) won their first I-AA/FCS title 44-42 over Furman (12-2 Overall, 6-0 Southern Conference).
Conference Changes
The Association of Mid-Continent Universities of Eastern Illinois, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, and Western Illinois moved to the Gateway Conference.
The seasons of 1982 through 1985 presented a bizarre scenario in the Missouri Valley Conference. Some teams were classified as I-A (Tulsa and Wichita State) while others were classified as I-AA (Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and West Texas A&M). We decided to stay true to the classifications at the time with those considered I-AA showing up on the FBS-FCS game list for 1985.
To make matters a bit more confusing Illinois State and Southern Illinois were part of both the Gateway Conference AND the Missouri Valley Conference. However, both were still considered I-AA programs.
Team Changes
Villanova restarted its program in 1985 and was classified as an I-AA independent. Akron was not in the NCAA handbook.
| Team | Old Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Villanova | Restarted Program | I-AA Independent |
1984 Season ———————————————————————————————————————————————————- 1986 Season