Lambert Cup History

In 1957, the success of the Lambert Trophy – and the fact that only “major college” teams at the time had every won it – inspired the Lambert brothers to add another piece of hardware for “small college” teams.  It was in that spirit that the Lambert Cup was born.

Predating the NCAA’s split into divisions, college football was informally organized into “small” and “major” schools.  This definition was fluid – schools could easily go from “small” to “major” if the NCAA just said so – but it was significant enough for the Lambert family to decide to make another postseason award for Eastern “small college” supremacy.

“For the past 21 years,” The Allentown Morning Call reported in 1957, “the top Eastern eleven has received the Lambert Trophy. During that span, a small college team has never been voted the best in the East, although numerous squads had the potential to upset the trophy – winners if given the opportunity. Therefore, to give the smaller school the recognition it justly deserves, Victor and Henry Lambert have placed in contention the Lambert Cup.”

Over the years it was presented to college football teams of different divisions.

This page is intended to preserve that history and to give some added context and richness to the different winners. It also is the complete history of the cup itself, which was presented to different champions at different times in the NCAA’s existence.

In 1957, the NCAA informally broke football down into “Small College” and “Major College” classifications. A fairly fluid definition, the Lambert brother’s original intent was to honor schools in the “Small College” division.

In 1958, for the first time, United Press International created the UPI Small College Football rankings. At the sub-University Division level, they were the gold standard of press rankings of that time, consisting of 47 coaches from each of the 47 states that had a “small college” team competing there, The rankings included both NCAA schools and non-NCAA schools (ex. NAIA). The winner won a national trophy presented by the UPI.

In 1960, the Associated Press conducted their own AP Small College Football Rankings. Its members were voters, mostly press members, consisting of one voter over eight regions.

Since the UPI Small College Football Ratings were a part of the landscape, the teams’ final poll position in the chart below up until 1974 is included. Notably, Delaware won the UPI National Trophy three times in years they won the Lambert Cup (1963, coached by David. M. Nelson, and 1971 and 1972, coached by Tubby Raymond).

1975 saw the combining of the UPI’s poll and the Associated Press’ poll into a new Division II poll. By this point the NCAA was conducting a college football playoff for its “Small college” members, and it was at this point when NAIA schools and non-NCAA schools were no longer included.

As the NCAA broke formally into Divisions I, II, and III, the Lambert Cup originally strove to still be presented to the best team in the East, which at this point involved two different NCAA divisions (Division II and Division III), and in 1978 would also include I-AA, a subdivision of Division I.

Whenever possible in the table below, final poll position of the relevant polls have been documented. These may include:
* UPI Small College Football Rankings (1957-1974)
* AP Small College Football Rankings (1960-1974)
* Division II College Football Rankings (1975-1981)
* AP I-AA Poll (1978-1980)
* NCAA I-AA Football Committee (1981-1991)
* Sports Network/STATS I-AA/FCS Polls (1992-Present)
* Small College/Division II/DIvision I-AA/FCS Coaches’ Poll (if available)

Lambert Cup Champions

About the Lambert Awards

In 1936, the Lambert brothers, owners and operators of a family jewelry business based in New York City, chose to sponsor a trophy for the best college football team in the East. Named after their late father August V. Lambert, the Lambert Trophy was born.

Lambert Trophy: 1936-
NCAA Major College 1936-1977
NCAA Division I-A /FBS 1978-present

In 1957, the Lambert brothers added a second award to go with the Lambert Trophy, the Lambert Cup, to be awarded to the “best small college football team in the East”.

Lambert Cup: 1957-
(renamed the I-AA Lambert Cup in 1985)
NCAA Small College 1957-1966
NCAA Small College/ECAC Division II 1967-1972
NCAA Division II 1973-1981
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS 1982-Present

In 1966, the Lambert brothers created another Lambert award to go along with their wildly popular Lambert Trophy and Lambert Cup – what was then called the “Lambert Bowl”. “The Lambert Bowl will be awarded for the first time this season to the football team turning in the best performance among the 34 colleges in Division III of the Eastern College Athletic Conference,” an AP report from October 20th, 1966 said.

Lambert Bowl: 1966-
(renamed the Division III Lambert Cup in 1985)
NCAA Small College/ECAC Division III 1966-1976
NCAA Division III 1973-present

In 1973, the NCAA split itself into Divisions I, II, and III, and a few years later Division I football divided into I-A (now called Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS) and I-AA (now called Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS). When the dust settled, a fourth Lambert award, called the Lambert Plaque, was awarded starting in 1982.

In 1985, to avoid confusion, it was decided to rename the Lambert Cup, Lambert Bowl and Lambert Plaque the “Lambert Cup” for their respective divisions or subdivisions.

Lambert Plaque 1982-
(renamed the Division II Lambert Cup in 1985)
NCAA Division II 1982-present