After 53 years, the New York Knicks are NBA champions. Some — your boy included — never thought we would see the day. But in the last 10 years alone, the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Blues, and Knicks have all shed generations of inadequacy and hoisted their sport’s ultimate prize.
Looking at the college football landscape, which program could end a decades-long championship drought in 2026? For this list, let’s look at three teams who could make run at the College Football Playoff this year from most likely to least likely.
Advertisement
But first a few ground rules: 1) No pipe dreams. Apologies to UCLA, Pittsburgh and Arkansas. 2) The team must have a championship drought that extends beyond 1990. Apologies to Tennessee, Nebraska, Washington, Colorado and Georgia Tech. I know it feels longer. And that’s it!
Here are the three teams most likely to end their national title droughts this season.
Notre Dame
The History: It’s not quite Knicks level, but 38 years for Notre Dame without a title is unthinkable for those of us who remember the Lou Holtz era and before. The Irish have not won a national championship since 1988 and have only reached the title game twice — 2012 and 2024 — since reaching the summit. Moreover, Notre Dame has finished inside the AP’s top-three only two other times, in 1989 and 1993.
Advertisement
The Case: Last season, the Irish were controversially the first team out of the CFP, and this team should be expected to return with a vengeance in 2026. Head coach Marcus Freeman’s team returns the most production in the country, the best defense in college football, and has starting quarterback, C.J. Carr in his second year as the leader of this team.
Unlike the other teams on this list, the Irish’s schedule is a breeze until Week 7 when they head to Provo to face BYU. Beyond that, their only remaining roadblocks are Miami in Week 9 and SMU in Week 11. However, both of those matchups will be in South Bend.
What Could Go Wrong: If Notre Dame is going to reach the promised land, Freeman will have to be better at the beginning of the season. Since taking over as the full-time head coach in 2022, Freeman is 43-11, but only 3-5 in the first two games of the season, including losses to Marshall and Northern Illinois in that span. If he can have his team firing out the gates against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, Notre Dame could finally end its drought.
Oregon
The History: Oregon has never won the national championship and has never even finished inside the top-five until 2001, a year in which they were screwed out of a National Championship appearance for No. 4 Nebraska and had to settle for kicking the hell out of No. 3 Colorado by three touchdowns in the Fiesta Bowl. Since their first real season in the mix, the Ducks have reached the national championship twice — 2010 and 2014 — and have finished inside the AP’s top-three two other times, in 2012 and 2024.
Advertisement
The Case: Head coach Dan Lanning has been a winning machine in Eugene. Since taking over, Lanning has only won less than than 12 games and finished ranked outside the top-six one time, when the Ducks finished No. 15 in his inaugural season in 2022.
Oregon returns the 11th-most production in the country this season and a Heisman-frontrunning quarterback in Dante Moore. There are holes to fill on both sides of the ball and two new coordinators calling the shots, but if the Ducks can split their tough road games against USC and Ohio State, every other challenge is at home. Then, all Lanning will have to do is face his postseason demons. Similar to the Knicks.
What Could Go Wrong: Since his arrival, Lanning has struggled when the lights are the brightest. In 2023, Oregon lost a win-and-you’re-in Pac-12 Championship rematch against Washington as a 10-point favorite. The following year, the Ducks ran through the Big Ten slate undefeated and claimed the conference title before getting schlacked by 20 points in a Rose Bowl rematch against Ohio State. A game that never even felt that close. And last season, the Ducks’ only blemish was a 10-point home loss to Indiana during the regular season until the Hoosiers embarrassed them by 23 in the Peach Bowl.
This is a brilliant line from Bill Connelly, “It’s a record built to both impress and massively frustrate: In the past three seasons, Oregon is 1-5 against teams that ended up in the national title game and 37-0 against everyone else. Beating Oregon basically means you’re guaranteed greatness, but when does it get to be Oregon’s turn at greatness?”
Advertisement
With a plethora of skill players, and an experienced defense and quarterback, it could finally be Oregon’s turn.
Texas A&M
The History: The Aggies have been playing football since before the turn of the 20th century and have only won two national championships. And the most recent one was in 1939. Since then, Texas A&M has rarely even been close. The Aggies have zero top-three finishes since their last title and only three top-10 finishes in the last 25 years (2012, 2020, 2025). But with Mike Elko in charge, the aura around College Station has changed.
The Case: One of the “other” schools in Texas, Elko’s squad has flown under the radar this offseason. With Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian bickering in the media, Elko’s team has been able to avoid the media scrutiny, which is undoubtedly a welcomed reprieve after last season’s disappointing finish.
Advertisement
Texas A&M marched out to an 11-0 record in 2025 before falling apart vs Texas and then losing to eventual national runner-up, Miami, at Kyle Field, in a 10-3 rock fight that made Iowa fans jealous. This year, similar to Oregon, Elko has to replace several holes on both sides of the ball, as well as both coordinators, but at least his starting quarterback Marcel Reed and wide receiver Mario Craver return. Elko has replenished both lines via the transfer portal, and if he can reignite the running game, that could will ease the burden on Reed’s shoulders and could push the Aggies back to the top of their state and the country.
What Could Go Wrong: Last season, Texas A&M benefitted from one of the easiest schedules in the SEC. Now the bill comes due for the Aggies with road games at LSU and Missouri, and a final five-game gauntlet of Alabama (away), South Carolina (away), Tennessee, Oklahoma (away) and Texas. If A&M is going to end the drought, it will have to earn it every step of the way.
