The 1985 Big Ten Conference football season was the 90th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. The 1985 Big Ten champion was the 1985 Iowa Hawkeyes football team. The Hawkeyes began the season 7-0 and rose to the No. 1 ranking, including a 12–10 win over No. 2 Michigan at Kinnick Stadium, before losing to Ohio State. Iowa entered the Rose Bowl at 10–1 with an outside shot at a national championship, but were upset by UCLA in the 1986 Rose Bowl, 45–28. Iowa quarterback Chuck Long received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the conference's most valuable player. Long and linebacker Larry Station were consensus first-team All-Americans.