Why does it exist? Why not let schools give scholarships to whomever they darn well please? I mean seriously... why aren't schools allowed to give as many free rides as they want (like they could for merit scholarships or financial aid)?
Just had a brief discussion with someone who claimed this was the most unfair rule in NCAA sports by far.
Unfair to whom? The other individual probably has no knowledge of the sport, it's evolution, nor of who the NCAA really is. It exists like most of NCAA regulations because of abuse and controversy. I wrote an article on the 85/25 rules about 15 years ago. It's in the basement on a dead computer so this is off the top of my head.
Going back 110 years or so football was based on rugby. Differerent teams had different rules, field sizes, ball sizes, team sizes, etc. Rules were established to provide uniformity (including rules on uniforms).
Somewhere along the way they got around to 11 a side. Photos of the early 1900 teams, include about a dozen or so athletes. Over the years the number of athletes in team photos grew then exploded in the 70's, and then got smaller because the rules changed.
Before WWII Football was generally one platoon football, 60 minute men. Your were a starter both ways.
The original Ironmen (no, not the wimps from Don Bosco, they were named for the Iron Mine Workers of North Jersey) got that name because the stay on the field when Iron was the measure of toughness. Legendary heros like George Gipp returning kicks, throwing passes, running the ball, catching passes, kicking field goals, punting, oh yeah intercepting passes as an All-American Safety. Those were the days when the Heisman winner did it all (ask Old Man Mike). Essentially 11 men with limited substitutions. Substitutions varied through the years. ND's 1924 Championship Team had about 25-30 players. The 1943 Championship Team had about 50 players but that was probably Varsity and J.V.
At the end of WWII, say the 1945 season, (and the Leahy Glory Years), College Football played Two Platoon Football (Offense and Defense). Division 1 was called Major College Football. Squads got bigger. Check those team photos 50+ athletes. In two platoon a guy could be 2nd or 3rd string on Offense but be a starter on Defense or vice versa.
By '52 Major College Football reverted to One Platoon ball amid complaints that a few teams like ND had amassed to much talent and it wasn't fair (ND had 4 undefeated season during that period.) One Platoon football would last through the 1963 season. Check ND seasonal records and you'll see this was basically the Brennan/Kuharich years, a dismal time for ND football although Hornung excelled at running, passing, kicking off, returning kicks, kicking FGs and playing as a solid DB. (Visualize Quinn, Clausen, or Crist playing 30 minutes of Defense or those 330 pound tackles going both ways.)
If you look back through the AP Top 10, 20, and 25 (it also varied over the years) you'll find that Ivy League teams like Penn were still a National Power in the mid 50's but started to fade as teams grew in size.
1964 saw Ara Parshegian turn a 2-7 team into a 9-1 team that lost a National Championship on a phantom call in the 90 seconds of the season at the L.A. Coliseum. Everybody sings Ara's praises compared to Kuharich but few fans today realized Ara had the benefit of taking the talent Kuharich and Devore recruited and playing them at 22 positions (with substitutions) where the year before the best 11 went both ways. That was one fo the reasons Ara switched so many players positions. The players didn't have to play 60 minutes. He could play to their strength's not their average offensive and defensive abilites.
Now there were no limits on the teams or squad, unlimited substititions and unlimited scholarships. Coaches like Bear Bryant signed big squads. Their 3rd team would have been the 1st team at Kentucky or Vanderbilt. Bryant signed them just to keep them OFF the other teams roster. Bryant only had one 1,000 yard rusher Johnny Musso during his career at Bama and no Heisman winner. He overwhelmed teams with numbers. In the 4th quarter Bama fans used to hold up 4 fingers, stating "The 4th Quarter belongs to us." Their team that took the field in the 4th quarter had clean uniforms. Fresh legs while the 'Dores regulars that had already played 3 quarters stayed on the field - dragging. It was the principal reason Bryant had only the one 1,000 yard rusher and no Heisman. Few players played an entire game but he sent the equivalent of North Koreas Human Wave Attacks at opponents. A War of Attrition and he had the depth AND talent.
Finally Johnny Majors at Pittsburgh signed something like 125 freshman in one class. Hey it's the Cold War. The Arms Race. Mutual Assured Destruction. While the arms race was playing havoc with nation's GDP, unlimited scholarships were devouring athletic department budgets. The "Superpowers" could foot the bill. The others were falling by the wayside. Some years earlier the Ivy League schools had said enough and banned athletic scholarships.
That winter at the NCAA football meetings a host of NCAA member school president's said, "Enough!" and voted a cap on scholarships.
By 1973 there was a liimit of 105 scholarships (and I believe the 25 in a class rule). Check the photo of the 1973 ND National Championship team and you'll see about 100 athletes. A far cry from the days when Rockne and Dorias suited up.
Joe Montana was one of something like 5 QBs in his recruiting class. He was 7th on the depth chart. Compare that with the QB depth Davie, Willingham, and Weis had.
For the 1978 season scholarships were restricted to 95. The end of the Devine Era, the Faust Era (numbers AND talent don't counter mediocre coaching), and the Golden Years of the Holtz Era.
Major College (Division 1) scholarships continued to be reduce in 1992 to 92, then in 1993 to 88 then the current 85 in 1994.
The departure of Vinny Cerrato after 1990 reduced the quality of Holtz classes after the his last guys graduated after the '93 season (It wasn't a BC Curse). In addition to the loss of Cerrato's keen eye for talent and golden tongue to sway recruits to ND, Holtz had 10 less scholarships in 1994 then he did in 1986.
The margin of error got smaller in projecting the growth and development of talent of 17 year old kids who would grow into college football players. This is why Saban, Spurrier, Chizak, and the rest of the SEC coaches were complaining about having to actually meet the 25 man class rule for real. (BTW, Alabama just lost their 6th player to "transfer" yesterday. Saban's know's how to make a roster fit the numbers - speaking of "fair".)
Now for ND throw in ND Admissions, ND's Classroom Competition, AND ND's Residential Life, as well as routine injuries and think about the disadvantage Davie, Willingham, Weis, AND Kelly have (had) the next time any of you want to compare Rockne, Leahy, Parshegian, and Devine to the recent downtimes. No, Davie, Willingham, and Weis, aren't the caliber of coach as those other four but they all were coaching the same number of players. I've rarely heard any fan mention that in when bashing Winning Percentages.
Now each time the rules changed, the push the envelope guys like Bryant circumvented them by putting football players on track, baseball, and tennis scholarships. The rules may appear silly but their made by the schools, the members of the NCAA.
The schoalrship rules evolved from financial needs (too much red ink), abuse, and fairness, aka, parity think Navy v ND recently or Toledo v Michigan, and a lot of other upsets that occur more frequently now with only 85 scholarships. Even the 1AA schools like Applachian St with only 63 scholarships are closer in numbers today then they were with unlimited scholarships.
Think of how many more talented players today will spurn sitting on the bench in the Pac 10 or SEC to start at San Deigo St, Fresno St, etc.
Also realize that the push the envelope guys took the War of Attrition to the War of Facilities. When the scholarships were limited the programs with deep pockets put in world class weight rooms, skyboxes, jumbotrons, and the like. Maybe someday the NCAA member will vote you can't have more than one TV in a athletic faciliity to reduce cost or limit the size to 24 inch screens. Silly? Does it effect the game? Yes, it does like the private jets used for recruiting visits used to do and the extravagant wine and dining.
The rules, silly or not (think of the coach the intentionally had his players go offsides on kickoffs) all came about by somebody looking for an unfair advantage and enough others saying, No.
is considering being the 300th. What are his chances of ever seeing the field? How much time is Saban's staff going to be able to dedicate to his development? 
