I understand that expecting a National Championship is not only unrealistic, it is moronic. However, I do expect when people from BTN, ESPN, FoxSports, or any other news source, are throwing out "national contenders"; they won't be 'laughed at' by mentioning the Huskers.
This means competitive year in, and year out. If there is a blowout/embarassing win, the Huskers better win 10+ games (e.g. K-State this year) or if all games are close 7 or 8 wins would be acceptable as long as it wasn't the norm and the losses were from 'better' teams (e.g. Michigan this year, Alabama blowout not withstanding)
I should add that I don't believe a coach, Pelini or any other, should be fired for a season that doesn't meet these expectations as long as the seasons prior and immediately after show that the staff is capable of meeting the expectations.