ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Navy football team was named the winner of the Lambert Trophy on Wednesday by the Lambert Trophy Championship Association. It is the first time since 2015 and just the second time since 1963 that Navy has been recognized as the "Champions of the East."
 
The Lambert Trophy (formerly the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy) is an annual award presented to the best team in the East in FBS college football.
 
In affiliation with the Metropolitan New York Football Writers, founded in 1935, the Lambert Trophy was established by brothers Victor A. and Henry L. Lambert in memory of their father, August V. Lambert. The Lamberts were principals in a distinguished Madison Avenue jewelry house and 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 (formerly I-A) schools located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions remained independent, with the exception of the Ivy League, which formed in 1954.
 
Emblematic of the "Eastern championship," the Lambert Trophy, voted on by a panel of New York sportswriters, 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 the definition has sometimes been expanded to include teams located in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware.
 
Additionally, while the Big East Conference sponsored football, members of that conference outside of the East were also made eligible if at least half of their schedule was against Lambert-eligible teams.
 
The Metropolitan New York Football Writers, owned and operated by American Football Networks Inc., took back administration of the Lambert Meadowlands Awards from the New Jersey Sports & Exhibition Authority in 2011.
 
Currently, the following schools are eligible for the trophy: Army, Boston College, Buffalo, UConn, Delaware, UMass, Navy, Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple and West Virginia.
The 2025 Navy football team will go down as one of the best in school history, tying the school record for wins with 11, defeating Air Force and Army to win the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, tying for the American Conference regular-season title and defeating Cincinnati to win the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
 
Senior nose guard and co-captain Landon Robinson became the first defensive player in 50 years to be named a First-Team All-American. Senior quarterback and co-captain Blake Horvath became the first quarterback in school history to rush and pass for more than 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons and senior slot back Eli Heidenreich set multiple school records for receptions and receiving yards.
 
Navy finished the 2025 season ranked 23rd in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. It marked the first time the Midshipmen finished the year ranked since 2019.
 
This is the seventh time in school history that Navy has won the Lambert Trophy, tying the Midshipmen with Pittsburgh for the third most. Penn State leads with 35.
 
Navy's Lambert Trophy winners
1943
1954
1957
1960 (co-champions)
1963
2015
2025