Lambert Cup - 2024?

[aceinthehole]

I know they have stopped conducting the Lambert Cup for FCS teams since 2020, but how would AGS rank the eligible teams this year?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert-Meadowlands_Trophy

1. Rhode Island (11-3)
2. Lehigh (9-4)
3. Villanova (10-4)
4. Central Connecticut (7-6)
T5. Harvard (8-2) / Dartmouth (8-2)
7. New Hampshire (8-5)
8. Stony Brook (8-4)
9. Duquesne (8-3)
T10. Columbia (7-3) / Yale (7-3)

Eligibility: FCS teams in New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT), NY, NJ, PA, DE, and MD - or other teams that play 50% games against eligible teams.

*Delaware is not eligible as a transitional FBS team; Richmond did not play 50% games vs. eligible teams.

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On a side note, why was this poll stopped? Any chance the Metropolitan New York Football Writers will bring it back?

[NY Crusader 2010]

I would award it to Rhode Island this year. I think Richmond might qualify too...they'd be third in the standings.

2023 - Albany
2022 - Holy Cross (William & Mary very close 2nd if they qualified)
2021 - Dartmouth or Villanova -- maybe I'm forgetting someone obvious. Was JMU still FCS?

[aceinthehole]

I would award it to Rhode Island this year. I think Richmond might qualify too...they'd be third in the standings.

2023 - Albany
2022 - Holy Cross (William & Mary very close 2nd if they qualified)
2021 - Dartmouth or Villanova -- maybe I'm forgetting someone obvious. Was JMU still FCS?

Yep, I too would award the Lambert Cup to URI this year.

Richmond would not be eligible this season because they only played 5 "Lambert-eligible" teams (Delaware St., Delaware, Bryant, Towson, and Lehigh) and 8 "non-Lambert" teams (Virgina, Wofford, Charleston Southern, Elon, NC A&T, Campbell, Hampton, William & Mary). Obviously, next season playing a full Patriot League they will certainly be 'eligible.'

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

I know they have stopped conducting the Lambert Cup for FCS teams since 2020, but how would AGS rank the eligible teams this year?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert-Meadowlands_Trophy

1. Rhode Island (11-3)
2. Lehigh (9-4)
3. Villanova (10-4)
4. Central Connecticut (7-6)
T5. Harvard (8-2) / Dartmouth (8-2)
7. New Hampshire (8-5)
8. Stony Brook (8-4)
9. Duquesne (8-3)
T10. Columbia (7-3) / Yale (7-3)

Eligibility: FCS teams in New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT), NY, NJ, PA, DE, and MD - or other teams that play 50% games against eligible teams.

*Delaware is not eligible as a transitional FBS team; Richmond did not play 50% games vs. eligible teams.

-----

On a side note, why was this poll stopped? Any chance the Metropolitan New York Football Writers will bring it back?

Clearly, URI.

The ECAC has been a mess. They even stopped awarding the FBS version.

[DFW HOYA]

An NEC web site (?) claims to administer the trophy now.

https://www.necblitz.com/lambert-trophy-museum

[Laker]

I remember this trophy when I was in junior high. Too bad that they don't advertise it- too busy writing about the NFL?

I would vote for Rhode Island.

[aceinthehole]

An NEC web site (?) claims to administer the trophy now.

https://www.necblitz.com/lambert-trophy-museum

That's an independent blogger. No formal relationship with the NEC at all.

Kinda like the Merrimack-Sacred Heart "Yankee Conference" cup, someone is just picking up unclaimed intellectual property and branding to reuse.

[DFW HOYA]

The trophy won't survive with someone picking up unclaimed property. It really needs a corporate sponsor with ties in the region willing to support it.

If Wawa can get naming rights for a SEPTA stop, maybe it can sponsor a trophy.

https://www.septa.org/news/wawastation/ (https://wwww.septa.org/news/wawastation/)

[NY Crusader 2010]

What would happen if I purchased 4 trophies and engravings (for 2021 - 2024), drafted a congratulations letter and mailed the trophies out to the four schools that we deem Lambert Cup winners here on AGS?

Do you think if I did this any of the institutions would display in their trophy case?

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

At NECBlitz.com, our mission is to unite, celebrate, and elevate the tradition of Division I sports across the Northeastern United States. We provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage of football, women's volleyball, and basketball, offering fans, athletes, and schools an engaging platform that highlights the unique rivalries, talent, and stories of the region.
As we continue to grow, our vision is to expand this platform into something even bigger. Our ultimate goal is to create a regional championship—the Cranberry Bowl—which will bring together the top football programs from across the Northeast for a premier annual event. This game will symbolize regional pride and foster greater collaboration between conferences, giving Northeastern football the spotlight it deserves.
At NECBlitz.com, we’re committed to deepening the connection between fans and the game by delivering dynamic content, promoting regional rivalries, and building partnerships that create lasting impact. Together, we’re not just covering sports—we’re helping to shape the future of Northeastern athletics.




Our founder, AJ Mayowski, a passionate fan of Northeastern football and a proud product of the Big East era, believes that football in this region still matters. For AJ, it's about preserving tradition, where teams in the Northeast battle it out and embody the spirit of regional competition. That’s what the NEC represents to him, and that’s why #NortheastMatters.





Pure comedy.

[TJT]

I remember this trophy when I was in junior high. Too bad that they don't advertise it- too busy writing about the NFL?

I would vote for Rhode Island.






It used to be the Lambert for football and the Widmer for basketball back in the day for best in northeast college sports.

[Sader87]

It used to be the Lambert for football and the Widmer for basketball back in the day for best in northeast college sports.

Good call on the Widmer.

The Lambert Trophy and Cup were once very prestigious in Eastern football circles. Sadly it seems with all the different conference hopping at both the FBS and FCS levels ovah the past 25 or so years, it lost its lustre and it seems to have fallen into oblivion today.

- - - Updated -

[DFW HOYA]

Good call on the Widmer.

The Lambert Trophy and Cup were once very prestigious in Eastern football circles. Sadly it seems with all the different conference hopping at both the FBS and FCS levels ovah the past 25 or so years, it lost its lustre and it seems to have fallen into oblivion today. - - - Updated -

I sense these trophies (particularly the Widmer Cup) were casualties of the consolidation to conferences. It was going to be difficult elevating an independent team or the Ivy champion past the Big East every year.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

1. A mythical FCS "Lambert Cup" I'd say probably would belong to URI this season. Had Richmond* won in the playoffs it probably would belong to them (and if they would have been eligible), but if I were a "voter" I'd give it to URI.
2. The NEC Blitz guy is certainly someone to praise for his custodianship of the Lambert Trophy, but it appears to just be the Lambert Trophy, not the Lambert Cup.
3. In order to have sponsorship of a Lambert Cup by, say, College Sports Journal, like DFW says it would require some preseason criteria for qualification, perhaps a corporate sponsor (or two). and a bunch of voters, because there would need to be transparency and at least several rounds of voting before awarding the trophy (even if via press release). The curating of the Lambert Cup history, too - I'm not sure if the NEC Blitz guy owns that or someone else does (the ECAC?).

The Lambert Cup honestly did hold a lot of esteem to the I-AA teams in football back in the day. I think it's heyday was during the times when most of Eastern college football were independents in "University" and "College" divisions pre-1977 and it was a way to determine a regional sort-of "champion" and the respect of the other Eastern schools. Once Eastern teams started to join conferences it became less prestigious, and even in the 2010s I think it was starting to be forgotten by most. Lehigh did win it in 2011 and I think Andy Coen went to the Meadowlands to collect the hardware, but not many people followed or remembered it.

Not that the Yankee/CAA was the cause, but it was always strange that I think not all the CAA teams were eligible. I think JMU wasn't? Maybe someone can confirm. That of course was a part of the problem for the Lambert Cup. When Monmouth was in the Big South, were they eligible? If JMU is in the CAA playing New Hampshire and Villanova, do they? Etc. I think you have to define it by percent of Northeast teams played, or something like that. But I haven't thought extensively about it.

EDIT: JMU won it retroactively in 2019 and 2020, but I do not think JMU was always eligible.

The insularity of the Ivies also has helped eclipse the Lambert Cup because they don't play in the postseason, play a limited OOC schedule, etc. The problems of ranking them nationally also apply to the Lambert Cup.

More importantly - and this is the question I'd ask - is it something that would interest athletic departments and fans in the East? For that matter, would it be worthwhile and meaningful for FCS, D-II and D-III (which I think also had, or have, a Lambert Trophy for those divisions)?

[ngineer]

1. A mythical FCS "Lambert Cup" I'd say probably would belong to URI this season. Had Richmond* won in the playoffs it probably would belong to them (and if they would have been eligible), but if I were a "voter" I'd give it to URI.
2. The NEC Blitz guy is certainly someone to praise for his custodianship of the Lambert Trophy, but it appears to just be the Lambert Trophy, not the Lambert Cup.
3. In order to have sponsorship of a Lambert Cup by, say, College Sports Journal, like DFW says it would require some preseason criteria for qualification, perhaps a corporate sponsor (or two). and a bunch of voters, because there would need to be transparency and at least several rounds of voting before awarding the trophy (even if via press release). The curating of the Lambert Cup history, too - I'm not sure if the NEC Blitz guy owns that or someone else does (the ECAC?).

The Lambert Cup honestly did hold a lot of esteem to the I-AA teams in football back in the day. I think it's heyday was during the times when most of Eastern college football were independents in "University" and "College" divisions pre-1977 and it was a way to determine a regional sort-of "champion" and the respect of the other Eastern schools. Once Eastern teams started to join conferences it became less prestigious, and even in the 2010s I think it was starting to be forgotten by most. Lehigh did win it in 2011 and I think Andy Coen went to the Meadowlands to collect the hardware, but not many people followed or remembered it.

Not that the Yankee/CAA was the cause, but it was always strange that I think not all the CAA teams were eligible. I think JMU wasn't? Maybe someone can confirm. That of course was a part of the problem for the Lambert Cup. When Monmouth was in the Big South, were they eligible? If JMU is in the CAA playing New Hampshire and Villanova, do they? Etc. I think you have to define it by percent of Northeast teams played, or something like that. But I haven't thought extensively about it.

EDIT: JMU won it retroactively in 2019 and 2020, but I do not think JMU was always eligible.

The insularity of the Ivies also has helped eclipse the Lambert Cup because they don't play in the postseason, play a limited OOC schedule, etc. The problems of ranking them nationally also apply to the Lambert Cup.

More importantly - and this is the question I'd ask - is it something that would interest athletic departments and fans in the East? For that matter, would it be worthwhile and meaningful for FCS, D-II and D-III (which I think also had, or have, a Lambert Trophy for those divisions)?

very nostalgic look back at when college football was viewed differently…sigh. Lehigh has a large plaque on the wall above the north end one touting all the years they were named “Lambert Cup Champions”—-off the top of my head, I think 5 or 6 times.

I agree on the designation of Rhode Island as 2024 Lambert Cup Champions. I always like to distinguish “being named” a certain champion; as opposed to claiming “having won” a championship, when the former is simply an opinion and the latter actually “won” on the field of battle.

[Sader87]

Dartmouth won the Lambert Trophy in 1970....Coach Paterno was not pleased. xdrunkyx

[bulldog10jw]

Dartmouth won the Lambert Trophy in 1970....Coach Paterno was not pleased. xdrunkyx

Yale won it in 1960. Shared with Navy.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I seem to recall that in order to qualify for the Lambert Cup you had to play some percentage of schools in the "Northeast" to qualify, but then I see JMU won it 3 times, including their 2004 championship season under Mickey. Am I misremembering, or did being a member of the A-10/CAA "qualify" you automatically?

Looking over the history, before the I-AA split the Lambert Trophy was for any "University Division" school in the East, so that would have included Holy Cross, Colgate, Temple, the Ivies, Penn State, Boston College, everyone, basically (except the College Division schools at that time, which would include Lehigh, Lafayette, Delaware, JMU).

When the Lambert Cup was created, it wasn't just for I-AA/FCS only, it was (inexplicably) a group of cups for I-AA/FCS, Division II, and Division III. But the history is tricky.

I-AA/FCS's Lambert Cup was established in 1982. That would have happened just as the Ivies, Colgate, Holy Cross and most of the Eastern independents were force-classified to I-AA a year earlier.

The official record book of D-II's Lambert Cup was established in 1957 (with Lehigh being the first recipient). This would have been in line with "College Division" in the NCAA.

D-III's Lambert Cup was established in 1966, which pre-dates the establishment of Division III (which happened in 1977, when the College Football Association forced the NCAA to split into two divisions, and a breakaway group made Division III). I don't know what they would have considered themselves in 1966, college division or something else. But apparently there was a third. Maybe it was non-scholarship all along, or maybe even a precursor to the D-III group, I'm not sure.

What I can say is when the Patriot League didn't have an autobid or the playoffs the Lambert Cup was really the only other hardware they were competing for. That's Holy Cross' golden era of 1986-1989, when they won four straight. That was Gordie Lockbaum's era. The Ivies too were a big part of it, too, and fresh off force-classification it certainly had a lot of meaning.

Via Wikipedia, 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. I think it was always a sportswriter-themed award, but then it went to the Meadowlands for administration, then apparently the ECAC took it.

[Go Green]

That's Holy Cross' golden era of 1986-1989, when they won four straight..

I can envision some Crusaders on the 1990 and 1991 teams saying "WTF?" at cutting off the "golden era" at 1989.

:)

[DFW HOYA]

The Lambert Trophy/Cup/etc. was originally run through the Metropolitan New York Football Writers' Association, which tells you why this award is defunct.

It wasn't that long ago that a group like this might have had a lot of members or so-- every New York newspaper had beat writers and columnists, retired writers, and editors that followed football. Every local TV station had football reporters, and there were enough New York area writers and hangers-on at Sports Illustrated, Sport, or the Sporting News that would probably get an invite as well. Throw in the local coaches and sports information directors and you've got a dinner. In a less corporate age, the writers probably leaned on their editors to spare a few hundred dollars to rent a ballroom where drinks flowed and some out of town coaches showed up for the award proceeding. So who's a college football writer today? Chances are good they're not earning a regular paycheck.

Such is the situation as ESPN is sunsetting Around The Horn next summer. The original premise, four print sportswriters arguing sports in the late afternoon, doesn't exist today. The original cast of Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti, Tim Cowlishaw, and Bob Ryan were legitimate (and very good) writers. Now, more often than, not, the cast are ESPN personalities with corporate-friendly opinions.

Could they revive this award? It's possible. A web search indicated a similar group is alive and (presumably) well, though it's probably more SID's than journalists:

https://metbasketballwriters.org/

[Lehigh Football Nation]

https://twitter.com/LFN/status/1867247645372317735

(https://twitter.com/LFN/status/1867247645372317735)"Symbolized Eastern Small College Football Supremacy in 1957"

[Lehigh Football Nation]

A fun fact is that there was technically a Lambert Cup for each of FCS/I-AA, D-II, and D-III. For those of you that know or follow D-II or D-III, any idea who would have won those cups in 2021, 2023, 2024?

[NY Crusader 2010]

The only obvious one that sticks out is SUNY Cortland in 2023 for DIII.

[Easton13]

In DII, it probably would've defaulted to the team that won Super Region 1. So Shepherd in 2021, Kutztown in 2023, and Slippery Rock in 2024. You could argue for Kutztown in 2024 since they had only 1 loss to Rock's 2, but with Rock winning head-to-head, plus the region, and then giving the eventual national champs a fight, they'd be my pick.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Wrote some history about the Lambert Cup (and Lambert Trophy).

https://www.college-sports-journal.com/the-lost-history-of-the-lambert-trophy-and-lambert-cups/

[Sader87]

Nice piece LFN! They should resurrect this award at every level imo.