Cavs coach pleased with tougher new ACC slate for '04

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - Adding powerful Miami to Virginia&#39;s schedules for the next two years is the sort of opportunity the ascendant Cavalier football program was looking for, coach Al Groh said Thursday. <br> <br> Virginia&#39;s schedule for 2004 and 2005 will include the Hurricanes while dropping longtime conference foes North Carolina State and Wake Forest as a result of the nine-team ACC adding Miami and Virginia Tech. The new teams begin ACC play next season. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m pleased with our schedule. We have a very exciting and challenging schedule. It&#39;s the type of schedule you should wisely have anticipated getting when the whole concept of expansion came up,&#39;&#39; Groh said in a telephone news conference with sports reporters. <br> <br> ``This is one of those it&#39;s-time-to-worry-before-you-place-the-bet deals,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Virginia&#39;s schedule will be tougher, with the addition of the Hurricanes, now ranked No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25. The Cavaliers retain annual showdowns with No. 5 Florida State and the fourth-ranked Hokies, their in-state rivals. <br> <br> While North Carolina State, Wake Forest and North Carolina will have to face the three top-five powers just as Virginia will, other teams face only two of the traditional juggernauts. The Hurricanes face Virginia Tech and Florida State; Florida State and Virginia Tech don&#39;t play each other. <br> <br> ``What I am less pleased with is the fact that perhaps there are some teams in the conference who have been given an easier road to the upper division and, perhaps, the championship, and that that situation will exist for two years in a row,&#39;&#39; Groh said. <br> <br> He declined to elaborate on the teams to which he was alluding. <br> <br> ``I haven&#39;t even looked at what everybody&#39;s schedule is,&#39;&#39; he said.