November 21, 2011

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NCAA Division I FCS Bracket

NCAA Division II Championship Bracket

NCAA Division III Championship Bracket

CENTERVILLE, Mass. -- The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has released the seventh Lambert Meadowlands football poll on Monday, presented by FieldTurf Tarkett.

In Division II, the two teams tied for No. 1 will face off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  Kutztown will travel to New Haven for a 12 p.m. Saturday kickoff.  The Golden Bears of Kutztown survived a first-round scare against Concord, 17-14,to advance to their matchup with the Chargers, who earned a first-round bye.  No. 3 California (Pa.) defeated Elizabeth City State 44-0 to advance to the second round.

The Division III poll saw some movement after a wild weekend in the NCAA tournament.  The two teams tied atop of the poll advanced, as No. 1 Wesley defeated No. 10 Hobart 35-28, and No. 1 Delaware Valley easily handled Norwich, 62-10.  No. 5 St. John Fisher upset No. 7 Johns Hopkins, 23-12, after earning an at-large bid into the tournament out of the Empire 8 Conference.  Lambert poll participants Kean and Salisbury also advanced, as Thomas More, was defeated by Franklin, 24-21.

The NCAA field for the Division I Championship subdivision has been announced, with eight teams receiving votes in this week's Lambert poll making the championship field.  No. 3 Old Dominion, No. 7 James Madison and No. 9 Albany all play first-round games, while No. 4 New Hampshire and No. 6 Maine earned first-round byes.  Next week, the top two teams in this week's Lambert poll will face off in the second round of the tournament, as No. 1 Lehigh will host No. 2 Towson.

Penn State maintained its lead in the Division I Bowl Subdivision poll with a 20-14 win over Ohio State. The Nittany Lions will play Wisconsin Saturday for the Leaders Division title in the Big Ten.  No. 2 Rutgers defeated Cincinnati, 20-3, to jump over an idle West Virginia team for the second spot.

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.