I'm not talking about that meme/trope, although it may be an adjacent issue to it. The "senpai notice me" trope is usually for background characters or minor side-characters who obviously have no chance with their target of affection.

Again, I'm a visual novel nerd so my point of reference is that senpai notices, the osananajimi wins, and so on. Sono Hanabira for example started on a 'senpai noticed' pairing (Nanami & Yuuna) though in some cases, like Sakura's route in Fate/stay night -- senpai may notice, but... at what cost...? That said I still get the impression you're talking about infatuations that aren't necessarily supposed to bear fruit but its hard to critique the trope as a whole without really knowing how (or even if) the confession eventually plays out.

Speaking of things going nowhere I'm not sure its necessarily a trope but I'm really not a fan of yuri(bait?) that's kind of devoid of romantic chemistry. I guess yuri is fundamentally more about intimacy than romance but sometimes its hard to see a pair as more than (kissing?) besties.