A year ago today, everyone in these parts was still trying to process the shock of a season that did not end in the national championship game.

The pasting administered by Ohio State in the CFP semifinal brought that much of a jolt, and that much of a bizarre feeling in watching two other teams playing for it all in South Florida.

Now we're 12 days removed from watching something called Prince Cheddward shove orange snack food into the mouth of Dabo Swinney after a season-ending win in the Cheez-It Bowl.

So yeah, it's been a year. A tumultuous year filled with developments none of us could have anticipated last year even after watching the final game of Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Amari Rodgers and others.

The all-consuming question, of course, is how they get back to the top of the mountain and breathing that exclusive air that seemed almost like a birthright the more Clemson inhaled it from 2015 to 2020.

But even in a year where Clemson was conspicuous by its playoff absence, the monumental accomplishments of Swinney's program continue to be illuminated in real-time.

You might have heard about Kirby Smart's refusal to take a Gatorade bath after Georgia's dismembering of Michigan in the Orange Bowl. The Bulldogs were going to need every minute of focus and preparation to figure out how to avoid the devastating result that befell them in the SEC championship game against the Crimson Tide.