1985 NCAA Division I-AA football season

The 1985 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began in August 1985, and concluded with the 1985 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 21, 1985, at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The Georgia Southern Eagles won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Furman Paladins by a final score of 44–42.[1]

1985 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Duration	August–November
Playoff
Duration	November 30–December 21
Championship date	December 21, 1985
Championship site	Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington
Champion	Georgia Southern
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
«1984 1986»

Conference changes and new programs

School	1984 Conference	1985 Conference
Villanova	Revived Program	I-AA Independent

Conference standings

1985 Big Sky Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 5 Idaho $^ 6 – 1 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 No. T–2 Nevada ^ 6 – 1 – 0     11 – 2 – 0 Boise State 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Weber State 4 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Idaho State 3 – 4 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Montana 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Northern Arizona 1 – 6 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Montana State 1 – 6 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll	1985 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 4 Northern Iowa $^ 5 – 0 – 0     11 – 2 – 0 Southwest Missouri State 2 – 2 – 1     6 – 4 – 1 Western Illinois 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Southern Illinois 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Eastern Illinois 2 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Illinois State 1 – 3 – 1     6 – 3 – 2 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1985 Gulf Star Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Stephen F. Austin + 4 – 1 – 0     9 – 2 – 0 Sam Houston State + 4 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Nicholls State 2 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Northwestern State 2 – 3 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Southwest Texas State 2 – 3 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Southeastern Louisiana 1 – 4 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions
1985 Ivy League football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Penn $ 6 – 1 – 0     7 – 2 – 1 Harvard 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Princeton 5 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Brown 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 1 Yale 3 – 3 – 1     4 – 4 – 1 Dartmouth 2 – 4 – 1     2 – 7 – 1 Cornell 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Columbia 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1985 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. T–12 Delaware State $ 4 – 0 – 0     9 – 2 – 0 Bethune–Cookman 3 – 1 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 South Carolina State 2 – 2 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 North Carolina A&T 1 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Howard 0 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Morgan State 0 – 0 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion Morgan State games did not count as conference games. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1985 Missouri Valley Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Tulsa $ 3 – 0 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 West Texas State 3 – 1 – 1     6 – 3 – 1 Illinois State 3 – 1 – 1     6 – 3 – 2 Indiana State 2 – 2 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Wichita State 2 – 3 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 Southern Illinois 1 – 3 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Drake 1 – 5 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion Tulsa also played Houston and East Carolina and recorded those games as conference games, but the league did not count them toward Tulsa's finish. The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. Tulsa and Wichita State were I-A and the other teams were I-AA.
1985 Ohio Valley Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 1 Middle Tennessee State $^ 7 – 0 – 0     11 – 1 – 0 No. 10 Akron ^ 5 – 2 – 0     8 – 4 – 0 No. 17 Murray State 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 1 No. 19 Eastern Kentucky 5 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Youngstown State 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Austin Peay 2 – 5 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Tennessee Tech 1 – 6 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 Morehead State 0 – 7 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1985 Southern Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 2t Furman $^ 6 – 0 – 0     12 – 2 – 0 No. 12t Appalachian State 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Chattanooga 5 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Marshall 3 – 3 – 1     7 – 3 – 1 The Citadel 2 – 4 – 1     5 – 5 – 1 Western Carolina 2 – 4 – 1     4 – 6 – 1 VMI 1 – 4 – 1     3 – 7 – 1 Davidson 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 10 – 0 East Tennessee State 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 10 – 1 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant	1985 Southland Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 6 Arkansas State $^ 5 – 1 – 0     9 – 4 – 0 No. 14 Louisiana Tech 4 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 McNeese State 3 – 1 – 2     6 – 3 – 2 Northeast Louisiana 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 North Texas State 2 – 3 – 1     4 – 6 – 1 Texas–Arlington 2 – 3 – 1     4 – 6 – 1 Lamar 0 – 6 – 0     2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Ranking is from the Sports Network Poll
1985 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   No. 8 Grambling State +^   6 – 1         9 – 3   No. 15 Jackson State +^   6 – 1         8 – 3   Mississippi Valley State   5 – 2         8 – 3   No. 20 Alcorn State   5 – 2         7 – 3   Southern   3 – 4         6 – 5   Alabama State   2 – 5         3 – 8   Texas Southern   1 – 6         1 – 10   Prairie View A&M   0 – 7         2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll	1985 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 7 Rhode Island $^ 5 – 0 – 0     10 – 3 – 0 UMass 4 – 1 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 New Hampshire 2 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Maine 2 – 3 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Connecticut 1 – 4 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Boston University 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll	1985 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T No. 9 Georgia Southern ^ 0 – 0 – 0     13 – 2 – 0 No. 11 Eastern Washington ^ 0 – 0 – 0     9 – 3 – 0 No. 18 Richmond 0 – 0 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Colgate 0 – 0 – 0     7 – 3 – 1 Delaware 0 – 0 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Tennessee State 0 – 0 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 No. 16 William & Mary 0 – 0 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Lafayette 0 – 0 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 James Madison 0 – 0 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Lehigh 0 – 0 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Holy Cross 0 – 0 – 0     4 – 6 – 1 Florida A&M 0 – 0 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Western Kentucky 0 – 0 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 Bucknell 0 – 0 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Northeastern 0 – 0 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Div I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

See also: List of NCAA Division I-AA/FCS football seasons

Conference Champions
Big Sky Conference – Idaho Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Northern Iowa Ivy League – Penn Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Delaware State Ohio Valley Conference – Middle Tennessee State Southern Conference – Furman Paladins Southland Conference – Arkansas State Yankee Conference – Rhode Island

Postseason

NCAA Division I-AA Playoff bracket

The top four teams were seeded, and received first-round byes.[2]

First Round November 30 Campus Sites

Quarterfinals December 7 Campus Sites

Semifinals December 14 Campus Sites

National Championship Game December 21 Neutral Site

Murfreesboro, TN

Statesboro, GA

(1) Middle Tennessee State

21

Georgia Southern

27

Cedar Falls, IA

Georgia Southern

28

Jackson State

0

Georgia Southern

40

Cedar Falls, IA

Moscow, ID

(4) Northern Iowa

33

(4) Northern Iowa

17

Idaho

38

Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome

Eastern Washington

14

Eastern Washington

42

Georgia Southern

44

Greenville, SC

Kingston, RI

(3) Furman

42

(3) Furman

59

Rhode Island

35

Greenville, SC

Rhode Island

15

Akron

27

(3) Furman

35

Reno, NV

Jonesboro, AR

(2) Nevada

12

(2) Nevada

24

Arkansas State

10

Arkansas State

23

Grambling State

7

References

1. "1985 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 14. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
2. Hardesty, Abe (November 25, 1985). "Furman in I-AA playoffs". The Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. p. 1C. Retrieved May 3, 2019 – via newspapers.com.