College Football SMQ: Which fallen blue blood program will win a championship next?

Since the AP Poll came online in 1936, 33 teams have won a national title. Which former blue bloods have the best shot of returning to title status?

Until the turn of the 21st century, the college football national championship was a nebulous concept. There were several attempts to name national champions prior to the AP Poll, but 1936 marks the genesis of the first long-lasting attempt at finding a nationwide consensus via polling.

Since the dawn of the AP Poll era, 33 different college programs have earned at least a share of the national title. If we narrow down the range of time to the period since the inception of the BCS era in 1998, though, that number drops to just a dozen. Tennessee kicked off the BCS by ending its 47-year national title drought. Teams like USC, Texas, LSU, and Auburn also ended long periods of waiting to return to championship status.

For some of the other 21 teams, it has been more than half a century since their last titles. In other cases, teams whose last titles came prior to the BCS have remained perennial contenders who just haven’t yet returned to the pinnacle of the FBS.

Sunday Morning Quarterback returns after a hiatus, and titles are on the mind as we head into the offseason. Which fallen blue blood programs have the best chance of winning another national title? This is the question we will tackle this week. Keep reading to see the top five faded blue blood schools with the best chance to return to the promised land.