SAN ANTONIO ? Welcome to The Duke Invitational, otherwise known as the Final Four.

For the 10th time in the past 19 seasons, the Blue Devils still are playing on the last weekend of March Madness. Never mind that Duke, the only No. 1 seed to survive, is an underdog against Connecticut in today’s second semifinal. For a day, the Huskies figure to be America’s Team.

And that’s because there is a sizable faction of sports fans who hate Duke. Or really “HATE” (expletive) Duke.

“We’re a team that evokes emotion from people,” said Mike Krzyzewski, Duke’s coach (or, The Devil Himself) after his team squashed the Final Four dreams of poor little Xavier.

A majority of fans will be silently chanting A-B-D, A-B-D this weekend — Anyone But Duke. Ironically, a number of those fans reside along Tobacco Road. In Atlantic Coast Conference country, Duke wins too much and too frequently.

An ESPN.com poll had 45 percent of the respondents voting Duke as the team they most wanted to see lose in the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re used to it by now,” Duke junior guard Daniel Ewing said of the anti-Duke sentiment. “Most of the time, we feed off it. We use it as a steppingstone to play better.”

In an event that promotes the idea of Cinderella going to the ball, Duke is the all-in-one evil stepmother and stepsisters. The Blue Devils get to dance with the prince while the wallflowers curse and mumble under their breath. Just over a decade ago, the Blue Devils were an admired Little Team That Could … And Did.

In 1990, Duke was blown out by Nevada-Las Vegas by the biggest margin (103-73) in championship game history.

Duke players wave to their fans at the end of practice at the NCAA Final Four. The Blue Devils worked out Friday and will face Connecticut in a national semifinal game tonight in San Antonio.

A year later, the Blue Devils stunned the defending national champions in the Final Four semifinals and went on to win their first title.

So why do people hate Duke? Here are some theories/reasons:

l Duke fans look at the Blue Devils playing in the Final Four as a birthright.

l Krzyzewski is a pontificating whiner who is never happy.

For instance, coach K was aghast that senior guard Chris Duhon didn’t make the Atlanta All-Regional team last weekend.

“Is there something in the food there that made people (forget him)?” Krzyzewski wondered aloud. “Duhon was the best player, and the most important player, in Atlanta.”

l The referees are intimidated by coach K, and Duke gets all the borderline calls.

During the second-round victory over Seton Hall, Duke shot 22 more free throws. One of the Pirates’ fans expressed her displeasure during the second half:

“Ref, why you cheatin’? It’s national TV, everybody’s watchin’. Even your mama sees you cheatin’.”

In 2001, Maryland coach Gary Williams and Arizona coach Lute Olson hinted after Final Four losses that the striped shirts were wearing Duke T-shirts as undergarments.

l Duke has its own nationally televised public relations director in ESPN’s “Duke” Vitale.

True enough. But Vitale promotes several programs and coaches. ESPN, though, televises Duke almost as much as it airs “SportsCenter.”

l Duke wins too much.

The Blue Devils are fourth all-time on the NCAA Tournament victory list with 81, and Krzyzewski is just two victories away from passing Dean Smith for most NCAA victories by a coach. And, oh yes, Duke has eight 30-victory seasons under coach K, an NCAA record for one coach.

“We’re not on a lot of people’s favorites list,” Duhon said.