CHARLOTTE — Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi offered a tongue-in-cheek prediction for the ACC title game: His Panthers against North Carolina and new coach Bill Belichick.

“I expect him to be in the championship game against Pitt this year,” Narduzzi said Wednesday at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte. “You got Bill Belichick, you better be, right?

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Belichick, 73, won six Super Bowl titles as head coach of the NFL’s New England Patriots. He has never coached in college, but North Carolina hired him in December to lead the Tar Heels’ program. The school announced Wednesday that it has sold out all of its tickets for its six home games, a clear indication of the interest Belichick has generated for the program.

“I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t have success,” Narduzzi said earlier in his answer. “I don’t have a crystal ball. I’m no genius over here, but he’s a heck of a football coach. But it takes players and it takes coaches, okay. It takes a program together. It takes everybody moving in the same direction. I’m sure with the president there at North Carolina, the new AD now coming in and Belichick and his entire staff, they’ll do a helluva job.”

Belichick and several Tar Heel players, including quarterback Gio Lopez, will participate in the ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte on Thursday.

“A lot of respect for Coach Belichick, he’s one of the best to have ever done it,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said Wednesday at the league’s annual football preview event. “I know it’s a new transition and a new place. He’s not coached in the college ranks and for just some of the stuff he’s getting to do now. He adds a great perspective into that room when we meet as head coaches. I know it’s definitely new for him, but I’m sure he’ll do an outstanding job.”

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