North Carolina is on a tear, and AP Top 25 voters are noticing.

The Tar Heels opened at No. 19 in the preseason poll and have steadily climbed one spot this week to No. 3. The Tar Heels beat Louisville 86-70 on Wednesday and took down Boston College 76-66 on Saturday. Overall, UNC (15-3) has won 8 straight, including all 7 ACC games, to open a 2-game lead over NC State.

UNC hosts Wake Forest in the Smith Center at 7 p.m. on Monday on ESPN. The teams have split the last 6 games.

The winning streak is Carolina’s longest since 2018-19, when UNC closed the regular season with 7 wins and then won in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. The last time Carolina won at least 9 straight was 2017, when the Tar Heels won 6 games in the NCAA Tournament to win the national championship and began the following season with 5 more wins for 11 in a row.

The Heels will give a test to Wake Forest the Demon Deacons’ first test versus a nationally-ranked opponent this season.

The Deacs are coming off a 90-65 home victory over Louisville, as they nailed a season-high 18 3-pointers on 35 attempts (51.4%). That was also the second-best mark in program history, along with being the most in the Steve Forbes era.