Duke 87, Butler 78

Tonight will be one of those heartwarming, tear-jerking stories that sports fans will talk about for years.

The scrappy underdog Butler is going against the Evil Empire – a.k.a. Duke.

We all know how we want it to end – just like the movie “Hoosiers,” which of course was filmed in the Butler gym.

The skinny, undersized nerds will somehow prevail after all.

They’ll fall behind, of course, because that’s the way these stories are played out.

But a fiery halftime speech by the coach, along with a long-lost dad coming back to sit behind the bench, will save the day.

It will all come down to a last shot – it always does – but that buzzer-beating trey will fall in.

Sure, it will roll around the rim for an agonizing period in which time seems to stand still. But it will drop nonetheless.

Tears of joy will be shed, backs will be slapped, and moms will say “That’s my boy!”

… Unfortunately, that’s what we’d like to see, not what will go down.

What will happen is that Duke will crush Butler like a bug.

Coach K will run his robots in and out with the cool efficiency of a surgeon removing your heart. When he needs points, he sends in a scoring cyborg. When he needs D, he will shuttle in a blocker/intimidator.

The scrappy underdogs will keep plugging away, of course, but they can’t overcome destiny, power and the relentless drive of a Basketball Factory.

If you believe otherwise, you probably think the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals both have an equal chance of winning the World Series.