CENTERVILLE, Mass.– The Salisbury University football team is ranked second in the second Eastern College Athletic Conference Lambert Meadowlands football poll for Division III, the organization announced Tuesday.
Salisbury (6-1, 4-0 Empire 8) defeated Alfred University, 24-21, on Saturday and trail only Hobart College (7-0) in the poll. Wesley College (6-1), Widener University (7-0) and Johns Hopkins University (7-0) round of the top five. Alfred (4-2, 3-1) slipped from seventh to ninth this week.
Established in 1936 as the Lambert Trophy to recognize supremacy in Eastern college football, the award has since grown to recognize the best team in the East in the Bowl Subdivision. In 1957, the Lambert Cup was created to recognize non-Division I-A teams, and in 1966 a Division III award was added.
In 1983, the Lambert family decided the Meadowlands Sports Complex would be the best organization with a sincere and involved interest in college athletics to sponsor and manage the award, and since that time, the awards have been known as the Lambert Meadowlands Awards.
To be eligible for the Lambert Meadowlands Award, a school must be located in the East or play at least half of 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 at least half of their schedule features eligible teams.
Teams in Eastern-based football conferences, regardless of location, qualify if at least half their schedule is against Lambert eligible teams. Salisbury is at Ithaca College Saturday at noon.
