With the Big Ten and Pac-12 bowing out of the fall college football season due to “uncertainty” and “science” amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACC, Big 12 and SEC march toward having a fall season.

With 2 Power 5 conferences out, what does the post-season look like? Furthermore, what does the national title look like? Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked Wednesday if the absence of the Big Ten and Pac-12 “damages” the meaning of a national title this year. He offered a blunt response.

“The four best teams can go play,” Swinney said, via ESPN’s Sam Khan Jr. “We’ve been one of those four for five years in a row. So, in my opinion, it doesn’t change anything for us. We’re just trying to be the best Clemson we can be. Whoever you play every week, you try to win that game, you try to keep moving forward. We don’t have any control over that stuff. And I certainly don’t judge them in any way. Everybody’s gotta make decisions that they feel is best. If they feel like that’s what best for them, then so be it.

“Whoever wins it, wins it. That’s the champ,” Swinney continued. “It’s the same way in every sport. … Somebody is gonna win a championship, so maybe it’s a shortened season, maybe it’s not as many teams or whatever. But you best believe whoever wins it is gonna have to earn it. Nobody’s gonna give nothing to nobody, so you can only control what you control. We just hope we can have the opportunity to play.”

The SEC, ACC and Big 12 are making every effort to play the fall season. The SEC pushed back its practice start date to August 17th and its Week 1 start date to September 26th in order to help build more flexibility into the fall schedule.

247Sports and Rivals founder Shannon Terry tweeted Wednesday evening, “Spoke with multiple sources with finger on the pulse of the conferences. All consistent. Unless dramatic changes, ACC, Big 12 and SEC will play. Big 10 and Pac-12 are out. Will the resolve of the ACC, SEC, Big 12 change the current course of Big 10? Crystal Ball says there will be college football.”