For the first time in more than three decades, the NCAA Tournament will almost certainly not feature the Stanford Cardinal.

Stanford lost its first-round matchup of the ACC tournament to Clemson on Wednesday, 63-46, likely putting an end to its historic streak of NCAA Tournament appearances. The Cardinal owned the second-longest active streak of appearances in the Big Dance, having made the field 36 consecutive times since missing the tourney in 1987. Only Tennessee has a longer current run, at 42. Both streaks were paused in 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The loss Wednesday was Stanford’s 14th on the season, and it dropped the Cardinal to 8-11 in conference play. Stanford (16-14) jumped out to a 6-0 lead over Clemson but trailed the rest of the game after the Tigers surged ahead late in the first quarter.

“We’re not going to let this one game define us or who we are,” coach Kate Paye said. “We’re hopeful we get to continue to play, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to be here today.”

The Cardinal are in a period of transition, with Paye taking over the program this season after Tara VanDerveer’s retirement last spring. VanDerveer had coached at Stanford for 38 seasons and was the NCAA’s all-time winningest coach at the time of her retirement.

Paye was a former Stanford player and an assistant for VanDerveer for 17 seasons. She assumed the role hoping to build on the 14 Final Four appearances the program amassed under VanDerveer.

The 2024-25 season proved to be one of growing pains for the Cardinal, however. Not only did VanDerveer retire but also two of the program’s recent stars were no longer in uniform. All-American and two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year Cameron Brink was the No. 2 pick in last April’s WNBA Draft, and forward Kiki Iriafen, a Katrina McClain Award winner, transferred to USC. Stanford featured seven underclassmen and the Cardinal used four starting lineups throughout the season.

Though they jumped out to a 7-1 start, they struggled once the calendar turned to December and were never ranked higher than No. 24 in the AP Top 25 poll.

Stanford’s woes also came as the Cardinal switched conferences. They debuted in the ACC after playing in the Pac-12 since the mid-1980s.

If Paye and the Cardinal are looking for silver linings, they should recall the start of VanDerveer’s tenure. Stanford missed the tournament in each of her first two seasons with the university before beginning its 36-year run.

The Cardinal should also see a boost from its incoming freshman class, which is Paye’s first as head coach. Stanford’s 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 3 by ESPN and features four ESPN top-100 commits.

With the Cardinal poised not to hear their names called on Selection Sunday, UConn will soon assume the second-longest active NCAA Tournament streak. The Huskies will make their 36th consecutive appearance this season.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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