Tournament time is upon us, and I for one couldn’t be more excited. Postseason college basketball is arguably the most exciting time in all of sports, so why not amp up the excitement a little bit with some daily fantasy college basketball? I mean hey, even if you don’t have a favorite college team, everyone likes winning some extra cash right? We’ve got two pretty sizable slates coming up today so let’s get to it.
Playing other daily fantasy sports like NBA or NHL. Go ahead and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces all of our picks. Sign up now and get our lineup construction tool for FanDuel & DraftKings.
Denzel Valentine
FD - 11800 DK - 11900
I don’t normally recommend playing guys with a price tag this high, but on a short slate I think I’ll make an exception for arguably the best player in college basketball this year. Valentine has been sensational this year, averaging 19 ppg, 7 rpg and 7 apg while leading Michigan State to a potential #1 seed for the NCAA tournament. Valentine has one of the highest usage rates in the country, and Michigan State relies on him to do everything for them on the offensive end. In his last 10 games, he’s never scored below x3 value, and in his last matchup with Purdue, he went for 27 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. On a slate as short as this, I can’t think of a safer place to park your money than Valentine.
Dedric Lawson
FD - 9700 DK - 9300
I wrote about him yesterday and he delivered, but the narrative has changed so I feel like I need to explain this pick a little more. Lawson is the focal point of a Memphis offense that loves to get into the paint and get to the foul line as much as possible. This can be especially effective against the Huskies given that their guards play excellent on-ball defense. I figured Uconn was going to tire out against Temple, but boy did they prove me wrong. I’m betting that they’ll feel some fatigue a little more in this one, which gives Lawson an excellent opportunity to build on his already great season.
Jamal Murray
FD - 9800 DK - 8800
I would be doing everyone a disservice if I didn’t at least mention the hottest scoring guard in college basketball. Murray has been on an absolute tear in his last 10 games, scoring at least 21 points in all 10 of those games. In addition, he’s gone over 32 FD points in his last 6 games, so he’s definitely been someone you can rely on from a fantasy perspective. I think that Texas A&M is going to try to slow this one down so I don’t love the matchup, but if Murray gets hot he could easily have one of the highest point totals on the slate today.
Jalen Jones
FD - 7400 DK - 7200
I just mentioned how I thought that Texas A&M was going to attempt to slow this game down, and it all starts with Jalen Jones for the Aggies. He’s been their most productive big man on the season, averaging about 16 ppg and 7 rpg on the season. The matchup against Kentucky is not exactly ideal, but Jones did have a big game against them in their most recent matchup (24 points and 8 rebounds). Like I mentioned earlier, on short slates you want to find safe places to put your money, and unless his minutes get buzzed due to foul trouble, Jalen Jones is a pretty safe option.
Jalen Adams
FD - 5800 DK - 5000
I’m highly reluctant to recommend playing any Uconn players because I just can’t believe that they will be fresh for this game against Memphis, but I do like Jalen Adams in this particular matchup. He’s proven to Kevin Ollie and the rest of the country that he’s a good player, and his minutes and usage during the AAC tournament reflect this. Uconn has been relying on Adams for a spark off the bench during their run this postseason, and given that Memphis has a couple of guards that are banged up, their backcourt depth is something that Adams could really exploit today. He’s risky, but given the way he’s been playing lately, I believe he’s worth the risk.
Vince Edwards
FD - 6400 DK - 6400
Another guy that I like on this slate from a safety perspective is Vince Edwards from Purdue. He’s been on a nice run lately, scoring in double figures in his last 6 games, and as a result has scored at least 20 FD points in all of those games. That makes a streak of 6 straight games reaching at least x3 value, which is a very good number for CBB. I don’t love the matchup with a hardnosed Michigan State defense, but I think that the Spartans will key in on A.J Hammons, which will give Edwards the opportunity to produce.
Marcus Lee
FD - 5400 DK - 5900
I know that Lee hasn’t exactly been on fire in the SEC tournament (in fact he’s been horrible), but I really feel like he’s going to have a nice bounce back performance against Texas A&M. Texas A&M has a very deep frontcourt, and Kentucky is going to have to match them on the inside if they want to win this game. That means that Lee should get as many minutes as he can handle, which is key for players who aren’t the focal point of a teams’ offense to reach value. Kentucky is going to need Lee to be big on the inside to win today, and since I think that Kentucky is going to win this one, I think that Lee will have a nice game and could even grab a surprising double-double.
Markel Crawford
FD - 4500 DK - 3800
This pick is 100% contingent on whether or not Avery Woodson plays or not. With Woodson not playing due to a shoulder injury against Tulane, Woodson produced at a very high level, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 35 minutes of action. This kind of run for a guy who’s priced at the minimum is almost unheard of, and if Woodson’s out again, Crawford is an absolute must play on a slate that only has 3 games on it.
So yeah, basketball season! And we've got some goodies you can take with you. We have our NBA eBook that you really ought to check out before setting even a single daily fantasy NBA lineup. It's free, below.
And Daily Fantasy NBA Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings every day!
Get a free trial to DFSR NFL DFS projections for DraftKings and FanDuel.
Get a free trial to DFSR NBA DFS projections for DraftKings and FanDuel.
A packed slate of late-season NBA DFS action on DraftKings and FanDuel
We've got a ton of games going with picks and plays for DFS NBA games…
A packed Tuesday of NBA DFS action on FanDuel and DraftKings
We've got an interesting slate of NBA DFS action on DraftKings and FanDuel.
View Comments
so for college basketball you provide 3 high tier guys; 1 being which is valentine; but he better put up at least 40 or more for his price. you provide 4 mid tier guys; and 1 low tier. not very deep? certainly not enough info to be worth paying for subscibtion.imo. of course. no explanations on why these guys are good picks for their price. i guess if your into nba you give more info?? but for college; thats not cutting it.
You raise some interesting points Sean, but I want you to consider the following before you jump to such a conclusion.
1) This is only a 3 game slate so there are not a lot of options. I could recommend a few more lower priced guys, but none of them are expected to play more than 10-15 minutes and certainly will not add any real value to your lineup.
2) Since this was written during conference tournament time, we typically have less than 15 hours from the time the sites update the slate and the time the next slate begins. Given that small turnaround, we did not have a whole lot of time to explain the picks in great detail, but rest assured that these were not just drawn randomly out of a hat.
If you would like to discuss any of these picks or ideas for a lineup, please comment and let me know.