Thirteen years.

A child born 13 years ago is likely in 7th grade right now, struggling with Civics and dreaming of getting behind the wheel of a car for the first time.

A college student 13 years ago is now in their mid-30s, with the endless nights of YellowHammers at Gallette’s and praying that classes get canceled on fall Fridays replaced with mortgage payments and endless nights feeding their newborn child while praying for an uninterrupted night of sleep.

The Alabama Crimson Tide received official notification Sunday that they are back at No. 1 in the Associated Press college ball poll for the record 13th year in a row. Alabama got back to No. 1 on the basis of No. 4 Notre Dame downing top-ranked Clemson in double overtime Saturday night. Alabama, which had an open date, received 59 of 62 first-place votes. Notre Dame, which has its best ranking since it was No. 1 at the end of the 2012 regular season, received 2 first-place votes. Ohio State got 1 vote and is ranked 3rd. Clemson fell to 4th.

The Tide’s streak started way back in 2008, which seems like a zillion years ago. Alabama got to No. 1 that year on Nov. 2, 2008, a day after beating Arkansas State and No. 1 Texas lost to Texas Tech in coach Nick Saban’s 2nd year in Tuscaloosa. The 2nd-longest streak of consecutive years appearing at No. 1 in AP poll history belongs to Miami, which went 7 seasons from 1986-92. The current No. 1 appearance is the 92nd under Saban and Alabama’s record 123rd overall run at No. 1.

Even if you took away Alabama’s pre-Saban No. 1 appearances, just the No. 1 weeks since 2008 would be 1 more than Southern Cal (91) has ever had and would rank as the 4th-most in college football history behind Ohio State’s (105), Oklahoma’s (101) and Notre Dame’s (98).

In other words, folks: This is a dynasty the likes of which has never been seen before.

And it isn’t about to stop anytime soon.

It’s voting season, and while you can’t quite call the entire race just yet, trends tell you which way this race is going. And Alabama can win this sucker with maximum transparency. That process begins this week when the scent of corndog wafts up from Red Stick.

LSU and Alabama have long had a complicated history with little love lost on either side of the field. Alabama has dominated the Tigers in Red Stick over the years, but the Tigers broke through in Tuscaloosa last year to fulfill coach Ed Orgeron’s growling “we comin’ ” declaration en route to the national title. Throw in the fact that Saban was arguably the best coach LSU ever had before he became the 2nd-best coach Alabama ever had, and suddenly Saturday night is brimming with subplots.

But here’s the deal about Saturday night in Death Valley: This ain’t the same LSU team that won the ‘ship last year. Not by a long shot. For starters, Joe Burrow is plying his wares in Cincinnati, looking more and more like an NFL stud every week as the Bengals winnow their way to respectability. Also, Joe Brady — LSU’s QB Whisperer — is also in the league working with Teddy Bridgewater and the Carolina Panthers. And 3rd, well, the 2020 LSU defense only resembles the 2019 version in that they play the same positions.

After LSU, Alabama gets Kentucky at Bryant-Denny Stadium — a team that hasn’t beaten the Crimson Tide since Mike DuBose was wandering the Tide sideline. And the Wildcats have never won in Tuscaloosa or anywhere else they played Alabama with the Tide as the home team since 1917.

No. 24 Auburn looms on Thanksgiving weekend, but as we’ve discussed, the 2020 Iron Bowl isn’t being contested in voodoo-rich Lee County this time around. Plus, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix has earned the nickname Bo Pix for good reason, giving Alabama’s defense all sorts of feels heading into the annual grudge match.

Barring another Auburn miracle, only a trip to Fayetteville to play the slightly resurgent Arkansas Razorbacks remain for a perfect 10-0 regular season. That also means an SEC Championship Game berth, likely against the Florida Gators — who absolutely dismantled the Georgia Bulldogs 44-28 last weekend and now have a stranglehold on the SEC East.

While the Gators can move the rock in the air behind quarterback Kyle Trask, Florida has been on the fuzzy end of the series lollipop the last 6 times it has played Alabama — including SEC Championship Game losses in 2009, 2015 and 2016.

Look, people, it isn’t like we don’t know that the football bounces funny and that games aren’t played on paper — they’re played inside our television sets. But the moral of all this is has dual simplicity: Alabama is back at its rightful spot atop the college football mountaintop, and there isn’t just a whole lot anyone in the SEC can do about it.