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 " include teams located in New York , New Jersey , New England , Pennsylvania , Maryland , Virginia , West Virginia , Delaware and the District of Columbia ( although there are no FBS teams in Delaware nor Washington D.C. , there are teams that compete at lower levels that can win the various Lambert Cup awards for their levels ) . 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
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy