Aggy gonna boycott The Athletic. From mandel's latest Q&A:
Stewart- with Georgia finally getting the proverbial monkey off their back this past season, what program replaces them as the school whoβs the most βoverdueβ to win a national championship based on expectations from their fan base, national media, etc.? Nebraska quickly comes to mind, but at 25 years Iβm not sure theyβve waited long enough to make that claim.
Stuart F.
I know some people will say Texas A&M, but Texas A&M to me is not akin to Georgia. The Aggiesβ one and only national title was so long ago the games werenβt yet televised, and itβs not like theyβve been knocking on the door for several years like Kirby Smart was. And whereas Georgia fans had been expecting national titles ever since the last one, I feel like that didnβt really become a thing for A&M fans until at least Johnny Manziel, if not Jimbo.
The answer is Notre Dame. Itβs been 34 years. While many (perhaps including Brian Kelly himself) believe the Irish will never realistically win another one, their fans certainly still expect it. As an independent, itβs the only trophy the Irish have to play for. And this is not a Nebraska/Miami/Tennessee situation where the program has fallen completely off the map. Notre Dame reached the Playoff two of the past four seasons. The Irish have finished the season No. 12 or higher in six of the past seven seasons. That means theyβre in the mix.
I could list any number of other national championship programs β USC, Florida and Texas come to mind β that have the resources and the recruiting footprint to do it again, but the longest drought for any of them is USC at 18 years. Notre Dameβs is nearly twice that long. Notre Dameβs is an actual monkey.