North Carolina’s victory at Maryland on Wednesday night gave the Tar Heels six straight wins, their longest streak of the season. That’s the eighth-longest run in the ACC in 2012-13 and the longest still intact.

At this point a team can ill afford an interruption in a winning streak. After Saturday night’s meeting with Duke the Heels enter one-and-done territory in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

Anything is possible, but if UNC beats the Blue Devils it will either need 16 consecutive wins or face elimination short of league and/or national titles. Of course a postseason stumble doesn’t necessarily prove a deterrent to Roy Williams’ aspirations – his 2005 and 2009 teams lost in the ACC Tournament semifinals, then rallied to six straight wins and NCAA championships.

The last ACC team to enjoy a 16-game winning streak along the way to an NCAA championship was North Carolina in 1982, with Williams serving as a Dean Smith assistant.

Last year’s ACC champ, Florida State, ended the regular season with two wins and lasted into the second round of the NCAAs. Duke, the ACC Tournament victor in 2011, concluded that regular season with two losses in three outings and got to the Sweet 16.

Things were a bit different for the ACC’s best in 2010 and 2009.

The ’10 Blue Devils rallied to capture a surprise national championship and ACC title after an eight-game winning streak was snapped at Maryland in their next-to-last outing of the regular season. The Devils immediately embarked on another, 10-game win streak with a victory against UNC.

That was one of only two season-ending wins by Duke in nine tries during Williams’ tenure. The other came in 2004, his first season back at his alma mater.

North Carolina’s national champs of 2009 entered the ACC Tournament with three wins in a row, lost in the semis to Florida State, then recorded six straight victories en route to NCAA supremacy.

This season’s longest winning streak to date was posted by Duke, which opened with 15 consecutive victories. Four teams won at least 10 in a row at various points in 2012-13, most recently Miami, which saw a 14-game run ended at Wake Forest on Feb. 15.