Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy

Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Awarded for	the best team in the East in Division I FBS (formerly I-A) college football
Presented by	New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
Location	Eastern United States
Country	United States
First awarded	1936
Currently held by	West Virginia

The Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy is an annual award given to the best team in the Northeast in Division I FBS (formerly I-A) college football.

The Lambert Trophy was established by brothers Victor and Henry Lambert in memory of their father, August. The Lamberts were the principals in a distinguished Madison Avenue jewelry house and were prominent college football boosters. The trophy, established in 1936 as the "Lambert Trophy" to recognize supremacy in northeastern college football, has since grown to recognize the best team in the Northeast in Division I FBS. A set of parallel trophies collectively known as the Lambert Cup is awarded to teams in Division I FCS (formerly I-AA), Division II, and Division III. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, operator of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, took over the administration of the Lambert Meadowlands Awards in 1983.

Penn State won the most recent award after the 2009 season for a record 28th time and the second consecutive year. On January 10, 2011, the NJSEA announced that the University of Connecticut had won the trophy for the very first time, after winning the Big East and making their first appearance in the BCS. Since 1936, there have been 16 different winners in Division I-A/FBS.

To be eligible for the Lambert Meadowlands Award, a school must be located in the Northeast or play half its schedule against eligible Lambert teams. The territory includes New York, New Jersey, New England and Pennsylvania, while teams in the bordering states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and the District of Columbia qualify if half their schedule features eligible teams. With the establishment of the Big East Conference as a major football conference, members of that conference outside of the Northeast were also made eligible. While they were members of the Big East Conference, Virginia Tech and Miami of Florida were also eligible. Current Big East members Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida are now eligible.

West Virginia will become ineligible for the trophy once it completes its move to the Big 12 Conference.

Lambert Trophy winners

Year	School	Record	AP Rank	Bowl
1936	Pittsburgh	8-1-1	#3	Won Rose
1937	Pittsburgh	9-0-1	#1	No Bowl
1938	Carnegie Tech	8-1-1	#6	Lost Sugar
1939	Cornell	8-0-0	#4	No Bowl
1940	Boston College	11-0-0	#5	Won Sugar
1941	Fordham	8-1-0	#6	Won Sugar
1942	Boston College	8-2-0	#8	Lost Orange
1943	Navy	8-1-0	#4	No Bowl
1944	Army	9-0-0	#1	No Bowl
1945	Army	9-0-0	#1	No Bowl
1946	Army	9-0-1	#2	No Bowl
1947	Penn State	9-0-1	#4	Tied Cotton
1948	Army	8-0-1	#6	No Bowl
1949	Army	9-0-0	#4	No Bowl
1950	Princeton	9-0-0	#6	No Bowl
1951	Princeton	9-0-0	#6	No Bowl
1952	Syracuse	7-3-0	#14	Lost Orange
1953	Army	7-1-1	#14	No Bowl
1954	Navy	8-2-0	#5	Won Sugar
1955	Pittsburgh	7-4-0	#11	Lost Sugar
1956	Syracuse	7-2-0	#8	Lost Cotton
1957	Navy	8-1-1	#5	Won Cotton
1958	Army	8-0-1	#3	No Bowl
1959	Syracuse	11-0-0	#1	Won Cotton
1960	Navy	9-2-0	#4	Lost Orange
	Yale	9-0-0	#14	No Bowl

Year	School	Record	AP Rank	Bowl
1961	Penn State	8-3-0	#17	Won Gator
1962	Penn State	9-2-0	#9	Lost Gator
1963	Navy	9-2-0	#2	Lost Cotton
1964	Penn State	6-4-0	NR	No Bowl
1965	Dartmouth	9-0-0	NR	No Bowl
1966	Syracuse	8-3-0	NR	Lost Gator
1967	Penn State	8-2-1	#10	Tied Gator
1968	Penn State	11-0-0	#2	Won Orange
1969	Penn State	11-0-0	#2	Won Orange
1970	Dartmouth	9-0-0	#14	No Bowl
1971	Penn State	11-1-0	#5	Won Cotton
1972	Penn State	10-2-0	#10	Lost Sugar
1973	Penn State	12-0-0	#5	Won Orange
1974	Penn State	10-2-0	#7	Won Cotton
1975	Penn State	9-3-0	#10	Lost Sugar
1976	Pittsburgh	12-0-0	#1	Won Sugar
1977	Penn State	11-1-0	#5	Won Fiesta
1978	Penn State	11-1-0	#4	Lost Sugar
1979	Pittsburgh	11-1-0	#7	Won Fiesta
1980	Pittsburgh	11-1-0	#2	Won Gator
1981	Penn State	10-2-0	#3	Won Fiesta
1982	Penn State	11-1-0	#1	Won Sugar
1983	Boston College	9-3-0	#19	Lost Liberty
1984	Boston College	10-2-0	#5	Won Cotton
1985	Penn State	11-1-0	#3	Lost Orange

Year	School	Record	AP Rank	Bowl
1986	Penn State	12-0-0	#1	Won Fiesta
1987	Syracuse	11-0-1	#4	Tied Sugar
1988	West Virginia	11-1-0	#5	Lost Fiesta
1989	Penn State	8-3-1	#15	Won Holiday
1990	Penn State	9-3-0	#11	Lost Blockbuster
1991	Penn State	11-2-0	#3	Won Fiesta
1992	Syracuse	10-2-0	#6	Won Fiesta
1993	West Virginia	11-1-0	#7	Lost Sugar
1994	Penn State	12-0-0	#2	Won Rose
1995	Virginia Tech	10-2-0	#10	Won Sugar
1996	Penn State	11-2	#7	Won Fiesta
1997	Penn State	9-3	#16	Lost Citrus
1998	Penn State	9-3	#17	Won Outback
1999	Virginia Tech	11-1	#2	Lost Sugar
2000	Miami	11-1	#2	Won Sugar
2001	Miami	12-0	#1	Won Rose
2002	Miami	12-1	#2	Lost Fiesta
2003	Miami	11-2	#5	Won Orange
2004	Boston College	9-3	#21	Won Meineke
2005	Penn State	11-1	#3	Won Orange
2006	Louisville	12-1	#5	Won Orange
2007	West Virginia	11-2	#6	Won Fiesta
2008	Penn State	11-2	#8	Lost Rose
2009	Penn State	11-2	#9	Won CapitalOne
2010	Connecticut	8-5	#25	Lost Fiesta
2011	West Virginia	10-3	#17	Won Orange

Most Lambert Trophies

School	Total	Years won
Penn State	28	1947, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2009
Army	7	1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1953, 1958
Pittsburgh	6	1936, 1937, 1955, 1976, 1979, 1980
Syracuse	6	1952, 1956, 1959, 1966, 1987, 1992
Boston College	5	1940, 1942, 1983, 1984, 2004
Navy	4½	1943, 1954, 1957, 1960 (½), 1963
Miami	4	2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
West Virginia	4	1988, 1993, 2007, 2011
Dartmouth	2	1965, 1970
Princeton	2	1950, 1951
Virginia Tech	2	1995, 1999
Connecticut	1	2010
Carnegie Tech	1	1938
Cornell	1	1939
Fordham	1	1941
Louisville	1	2006
Yale	½	1960 (½)

Lambert Cup

Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA)

Year	School
1982	Delaware
1983	Holy Cross
1984	Rhode Island
1985	Rhode Island
1986	Holy Cross
1987	Holy Cross
1988	Holy Cross
1989	Holy Cross
1990	William & Mary
1991	Delaware

Year	School
1992	Villanova
1993	Boston Univ.
1994	James Madison
1995	Delaware
1996	William & Mary
1997	Delaware
1998	Massachusetts
1999	Hofstra
2000	Delaware
2001	Lehigh

Year	School
2002	Villanova
2003	Delaware
2004	James Madison
2005	New Hampshire
2006	Massachusetts
2007	Delaware
2008	James Madison
2009	Villanova
2010	Delaware
2011	Lehigh

Division II

Year	School
1957	Lehigh
1958	Buffalo
1959	Delaware
1960	Bucknell
1961	Lehigh
1962	Delaware
1963	Delaware
1964	Bucknell
1965	Maine
1966	Gettysburg
1967	West Chester
1968	Delaware
1969	Delaware/Wesleyan
1970	Delaware
1971	Delaware
1972	Delaware
1973	Delaware/Lehigh
1974	Delaware

Year	School
1975	Lehigh
1976	Delaware
1977	Lehigh
1978	Massachusetts
1979	Delaware
1980	Lehigh
1981	Shippensburg
1982	East Stroudsburg
1983	Towson State
1984	Towson State
1985	Bloomsburg
1986	Towson State
1987	Indiana (Pa.)
1988	Millersville
1989	Indiana (Pa.)
1990	Indiana (Pa.)
1991	Indiana (Pa.)
1992	New Haven

Year	School
1993	Indiana (Pa.)
1994	Indiana (Pa.)
1995	New Haven
1996	Clarion
1997	New Haven
1998	Slippery Rock
1999	Indiana (Pa.)
2000	Bloomsburg
2001	Indiana (Pa.)
2002	Indiana (Pa.)
2003	Indiana (Pa.)
2004	West Chester
2005	East Stroudsburg
2006	West Chester
2007	California (Pa.)
2008	West Chester
2009	California (Pa.)
2011	New Haven

Division III

Year	School
1966	Wilkes
1967	Wagner
1968	Wilkes
1969	Merchant Marine
1970	Edinboro
1971	Alfred
1972	Franklin & Marshall
1973	C.W. Post
1974	Ithaca
1975	Ithaca
1976	C.W. Post
1977	Westminster
1978	Ithaca
1979	Carnegie Mellon
1980	Ithaca

Year	School
1981	Widener
1982	Plymouth State
1983	Hofstra
1984	Union/Ithaca
1985	Ithaca
1986	Salisbury State
1987	Wagner
1988	Ithaca
1989	Union
1990	Allegheny
1991	Ithaca
1992	Washington & Jefferson
1993	Rowan
1994	Washington & Jefferson
1995	Rowan

Year	School
1996	Rowan
1997	Lycoming
1998	Rowan
1999	Rowan
2000	Widener
2001	Rowan
2002	Brockport
2003	Rensselaer
2004	Rowan
2005	Rowan
2006	St. John Fisher
2007	Wesley
2008	Cortland State
2009	Wesley
2010	Wesley
2011	Wesley

References

• "The Lambert Meadowlands Awards History". Eastern College Athletic Conference. http://www.ecac.org/uploadedFiles/Press_Releases/Lambert_Poll_and_Releases/All-Time%20Lambert%20Awardwinners.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-06. 
• "2005 Final ECAC Lambert Football Poll Announced". Eastern College Athletic Conference. 2006-01-05. http://www.ecac.org/uploadedFiles/Press_Releases/Lambert_Poll_and_Releases/2005%20Final%20Lambert%20Poll%20Release.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-06. 
• "2006 Lambert Meadowlands Awards". Eastern College Athletic Conference. http://www.ecac.org/uploadedFiles/Features/2006%20award%20list.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-06. 
• "ECAC Announces Final Lambert Meadowlands Football Poll". Eastern College Athletic Conference. 2008-01-07. http://www.ecacsports.com/lambert/2007-08_Releases/lambert_poll_010708. Retrieved 2008-01-07. 
• "ECAC Announces Football Teams of the Year". Eastern College Athletic Conference. 2009-01-06. http://www.ecacsports.com/sports/fall/fball/news/2008_ECAC_FB_TOY. Retrieved 2009-01-13.