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, commenced 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 score of 44–42.^[1]

• The Mid-Continent Conference stopped sponsoring football after the 1984 season.
• In 1985, all four members of the Mid-Continent moved their football programs to the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference, which otherwise sponsored only women's sports.
• The Missouri Valley Conference, a hybrid I-A/I-AA conference since 1982, played its last season of football in 1985.

(+ Illinois State and Southern Illinois competed in both the Missouri Valley and the Gateway during the 1985 season).