Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
The Lambert Trophy is an annual award given to the best team in the East in Division I FBS college football.
In affiliation with the Metropolitan New York Football Writers, the Lambert Trophy was established by brothers Victor A. and Henry L. Lambert in memory of their father, August V. Lambert. The Lamberts were the principals in a distinguished Madison Avenue jewelry house and were prominent college football boosters.
By the time the “Lambert Trophy” was established in 1936, major schools in other regions of the country had formed their own leagues and Division I FBS schools located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions remained independent, with the exception of the 1954 formation of the Ivy League. Emblematic of the "Eastern championship", the Lambert Trophy, voted on by a panel of sports writers in New York, became the de facto conference championship for those schools.
Since 1936, there have been 19 different winners in Division I-A/FBS. To be eligible for the Lambert Award, a school must be located in the "East." Teams in the "East" were originally interpreted as being north of Washington D.C. and east of the western boundary of Pennsylvania, but has sometimes been expanded to include teams located in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia. Additionally, while the Big East Conference was a football conference, members of that conference outside of the "East" were also made eligible if at least half their schedule was against Lambert-eligible teams.
A set of parallel trophies collectively known as the Lambert Cup were formerly awarded to teams in Division I FCS, Division II, and Division III. The Metropolitan New York Football Writers, owned and operated by American Football Networks, Inc., took the administration of the Lambert Meadowlands Awards back from the New Jersey Sports & Exhibition Authority in 2011.
As of 2024, plans were announced to revive the Lambert Trophy and begin awarding it for the 2024 season. Following this, the newly announced Lambert Trophy Championship Association awarded retroactive championships to Pittsburgh for 2021 and Penn State for 2023. It was additionally re-announced that Penn State had been awarded the trophy in 2022. Boston College, Temple, Navy, Army, Buffalo, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Penn State, UMass, UConn, and Syracuse will have automatic eligibility for The Lambert Trophy in 2024, with Delaware becoming eligible in 2025.
Lambert Trophy winners
By year
| Year | School | Record | Final AP rank | Bowl |
| 1936 | Pittsburgh | 8–1–1 | No. 3 | Won Rose |
| 1937 | Pittsburgh | 9–0–1 | No. 1 | No bowl |
| 1938 | Carnegie Tech | 7–2 | No. 6 | Lost Sugar |
| 1939 | Cornell | 8–0 | No. 4 | No bowl |
| 1940 | Boston College | 11–0 | No. 5 | Won Sugar |
| 1941 | Fordham | 8–1 | No. 6 | Won Sugar |
| 1942 | Boston College | 8–2 | No. 8 | Lost Orange |
| 1943 | Navy | 8–1 | No. 4 | No bowl |
| 1944 | Army | 9–0 | No. 1 | No bowl |
| 1945 | Army | 9–0 | No. 1 | No bowl |
| 1946 | Army | 9–0–1 | No. 2 | No bowl |
| 1947 | Penn State | 9–0–1 | No. 4 | Tied Cotton |
| 1948 | Army | 8–0–1 | No. 6 | No bowl |
| 1949 | Army | 9–0 | No. 4 | No bowl |
| 1950 | Princeton | 9–0 | No. 6 | No bowl |
| 1951 | Princeton | 9–0 | No. 6 | No bowl |
| 1952 | Syracuse | 7–3 | No. 14 | Lost Orange |
| 1953 | Army | 7–1–1 | No. 14 | No bowl |
| 1954 | Navy | 8–2 | No. 5 | Won Sugar |
| 1955 | Pittsburgh | 7–4 | No. 11 | Lost Sugar |
| 1956 | Syracuse | 7–2 | No. 8 | Lost Cotton |
| 1957 | Navy | 8–1–1 | No. 5 | Won Cotton |
| 1958 | Army | 8–0–1 | No. 3 | No bowl |
| 1959 | Syracuse | 11–0 | No. 1 | Won Cotton |
| 1960 | Navy | 9–2 | No. 4 | Lost Orange |
| 1960 | Yale | 9–0 | No. 14 | No bowl |
| 1961 | Penn State | 8–3 | No. 17 | Won Gator |
| 1962 | Penn State | 9–2 | No. 9 | Lost Gator |
| 1963 | Navy | 9–2 | No. 2 | Lost Cotton |
| 1964 | Penn State | 6–4 | NR | No bowl |
| 1965 | Dartmouth | 9–0 | NR | No bowl |
| 1966 | Syracuse | 8–3 | NR | Lost Gator |
| 1967 | Penn State | 8–2–1 | No. 10 | Tied Gator |
| 1968 | Penn State | 11–0 | No. 2 | Won Orange |
| 1969 | Penn State | 11–0 | No. 2 | Won Orange |
| 1970 | Dartmouth | 9–0 | No. 14 | No bowl |
| 1971 | Penn State | 11–1 | No. 5 | Won Cotton |
| 1972 | Penn State | 10–2 | No. 10 | Lost Sugar |
| 1973 | Penn State | 12–0 | No. 5 | Won Orange |
| 1974 | Penn State | 10–2 | No. 7 | Won Cotton |
| 1975 | Penn State | 9–3 | No. 10 | Lost Sugar |
| 1976 | Pittsburgh | 12–0 | No. 1 | Won Sugar |
| 1977 | Penn State | 11–1 | No. 5 | Won Fiesta |
| 1978 | Penn State | 11–1 | No. 4 | Lost Sugar |
| 1979 | Pittsburgh | 11–1 | No. 7 | Won Fiesta |
| 1980 | Pittsburgh | 11–1 | No. 2 | Won Gator |
| 1981 | Penn State | 10–2 | No. 3 | Won Fiesta |
| 1982 | Penn State | 11–1 | No. 1 | Won Sugar |
| 1983 | Boston College | 9–3 | No. 19 | Lost Liberty |
| 1984 | Boston College | 10–2 | No. 5 | Won Cotton |
| 1985 | Penn State | 11–1 | No. 3 | Lost Orange |
| 1986 | Penn State | 12–0 | No. 1 | Won Fiesta |
| 1987 | Syracuse | 11–0–1 | No. 4 | Tied Sugar |
| 1988 | West Virginia | 11–1 | No. 5 | Lost Fiesta |
| 1989 | Penn State | 8–3–1 | No. 15 | Won Holiday |
| 1990 | Penn State | 9–3 | No. 11 | Lost Blockbuster |
| 1991 | Penn State | 11–2 | No. 3 | Won Fiesta |
| 1992 | Syracuse | 10–2 | No. 6 | Won Fiesta |
| 1993 | West Virginia | 11–1 | No. 7 | Lost Sugar |
| 1994 | Penn State | 12–0 | No. 2 | Won Rose |
| 1995 | Virginia Tech | 10–2 | No. 10 | Won Sugar |
| 1996 | Penn State | 11–2 | No. 7 | Won Fiesta |
| 1997 | Penn State | 9–3 | No. 16 | Lost Citrus |
| 1998 | Penn State | 9–3 | No. 17 | Won Outback |
| 1999 | Virginia Tech | 11–1 | No. 2 | Lost Sugar |
| 2000 | Miami | 11–1 | No. 2 | Won Sugar |
| 2001 | Miami | 12–0 | No. 1 | Won Rose |
| 2002 | Miami | 12–1 | No. 2 | Lost Fiesta |
| 2003 | Miami | 11–2 | No. 5 | Won Orange |
| 2004 | Boston College | 9–3 | No. 21 | Won Continental Tire |
| 2005 | Penn State | 11–1 | No. 3 | Won Orange |
| 2006 | Louisville | 12–1 | No. 5 | Won Orange |
| 2007 | West Virginia | 11–2 | No. 6 | Won Fiesta |
| 2008 | Penn State | 11–2 | No. 8 | Lost Rose |
| 2009 | Penn State | 11–2 | No. 9 | Won Capital One |
| 2010 | Connecticut | 8–5 | NR | Lost Fiesta |
| 2011 | West Virginia | 10–3 | No. 17 | Won Orange |
| 2012 | Cincinnati | 10–3 | NR | Won Belk |
| 2013 | Penn State | 7–5 | NR | No Bowl |
| 2014 | Rutgers | 8–5 | NR | Won Quick Lane |
| 2015 | Navy | 11–2 | No. 18 | Won Military |
| 2016 | Penn State | 11–3 | No. 7 | Lost Rose |
| 2017 | Penn State | 11–2 | No. 8 | Won Fiesta |
| 2018 | Army | 11–2 | No. 19 | Won Armed Forces |
| 2019 | Penn State | 11–2 | No. 9 | Won Cotton |
| 2020 | Army | 9–3 | NR | Lost Liberty |
| 2021 | Pittsburgh | 11–3 | No. 13 | Lost Peach |
| 2022 | Penn State | 11–2 | No. 7 | Won Rose |
| 2023 | Penn State | 10–3 | No. 13 | Lost Peach |
| 2024 | Penn State | 13–3 | No. 5 | Won CFP First Round, Won Fiesta, Lost Orange |
| 2025 | Navy | 11–2 | No. 23 | Won Liberty Bowl |