For the first time since the birth of the College Football Playoff, the ACC had no representative in the national semifinals last season.
Clemson missed the playoff for the first time since the 2014 season, when Florida State represented the conference in the Rose Bowl.
Not receiving a participation ribbon to the playoff after the 2021 season signals that times are changing in a conference that first crowned a champion in 1953.
Questions loom over the strength of Clemson as a national contender, while the conference looks to target programs to compete with recent SEC and Big Ten additions.