(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
The University of Virginia, along with every other ACC team, released it's full men's basketball schedule earlier this week.
Last season, the Cavaliers suffered through one of the worst campaigns in the last 40 years, only managing to win 10 games.
A putrid offense and an inconsistent defense left Virginia fans scratching their heads in disbelief at the performances being put forth.
That amount of losing forced the resignation of coach Dave Leitao after just four years at the helm and ushered in a new era with the hiring of former Washington State coach Tony Bennett.
Well, Bennett was already experiencing the joy of low expectations; now his job got a whole lot easier heading into this season.
Why? As Dick Vitale would say, "This schedule is Cupcake City, baby!"
Last year, here were some of the notable games on Virginia's out-of-conference schedule: home against Xavier, at Syracuse, at Minnesota.
The year before that Virginia had games against Xavier, Syracuse, Arizona, and even a tricky team like Drexel.
This year, the games take a slightly different hue. Virginia will play in the Cancun Challenge and could potentially meet up with the Kentucky Wildcats if the cards fall a certain way.
If that fails to come to fruition however, the two big games on the docket this year will be Stanford and Penn State.
Outside of that, Virginia's home contests are highlighted by games against Longwood, Rider, Oral Roberts, Hampton, Texas-Pan American, and NJIT.
That's right, Virginia is playing the New Jersey Institute of Technology, a school that made it's name by losing 51 straight games before breaking through with a 10-point victory last season.
Oh, but the scheduling Gods did not just help Virginia out of conference, the Cavaliers are going to be playing a schedule nearly identical to the one they played in 2006-07.
That means Virginia will play both North Carolina and Duke only once. They also get to avoid playing at Cameron Indoor, an opportunity every ACC team would covet.
The five teams Virginia must play twice are Maryland, Virginia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, and Wake Forest.
Oh, by the way, in 06-07 when Virginia had that easier road, they finished 11-5 in conference, tied with North Carolina for first and made their first NCAA appearance in six years.
So for the Virginia fans out there, the 2009-10 season is definitely going to be a case of good news, bad news.
On one hand, there's the great taste of winning.
Let's face it, nobody likes losing. It's hard to watch a team trying hard each and every game and reaping no rewards.
We would all love for our team to take down the national powerhouses and we may laugh when teams are lapping the competition of Longwood and Hampton, but at least they're winning. It certainly beats the alternative.
The good news is that the Cavaliers are going to win more than 10 games this season. For a young team desperate for confidence, this is just what they need.
The current Cavalier players are becoming further removed from that 20-win season just three seasons ago. Many have never experienced the confidence and determination it takes to win.
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