Welcome to CBB DFS for the first full day of the NCAA Tournament! A couple notes before we get into the playbook. DraftKings has an all-day slate spanning from the first 12:15 pm ET tip to the final evening game. DK also has a late slate for just the night games, if you want to do that. FanDuel does NOT have an all-day slate and instead broke it up between early and late. This playbook will dive into every single game on Thursday with all slates in mind.
Keep in mind that some of the game times on DraftKings or FanDuel are earlier than the game itself may start in this tournament setup. So pay attention to when those games lock if making late lineup changes or pivots. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
Don't forget to enter our 2022 College Basketball Bracket Challenge, by entering at FantasyAlarm.com/Bracket!
THE SLATE (Odds via DK Sportsbook)
- 12:15 pm ET – Michigan (-1) vs. Colorado State – 137.5 O/U
- 12:40 pm ET – South Dakota State vs. Providence (-2) – 147.5 O/U
- 1:45 pm ET – Memphis (-3) vs. Boise State – 133.5 O/U
- 2 pm ET – Norfolk State vs. Baylor (-20.5) – 137.5 O/U
- 2:30 pm ET – Longwood vs. Tennessee (-18) – 133 O/U
- 2:55 pm ET – Richmond vs. Iowa (-10.5) – 150 O/U
- 4 pm ET – Georgia State vs. Gonzaga (-23.5) – 148.5 O/U
- 4:15 pm ET – Marquette vs. North Carolina (-3.5) – 152.5 O/U
- 6:50 pm ET – New Mexico State vs. Connecticut (-6.5) – 132 O/U
- 7:10 pm ET – Saint Peter’s vs. Kentucky (-17.5) – 132 O/U
- 7:20 pm ET – Indiana vs. Saint Mary’s (-3) – 126.5 O/U
- 7:27 pm ET – Creighton vs. San Diego State (-2) – 120.5 O/U
- 9:05 pm ET – Vermont vs. Arkansas (-5) – 140 O/U
- 9:25 pm ET – San Francisco vs. Murray State (-2) – 137.5 O/U
- 9:35 pm ET – Akron vs. UCLA (-13.5) – 128.5 O/U
- 9:42 pm ET – Texas Southern vs. Kansas (-22) –145 O/U
Top KenPom Projected Team Totals
- Gonzaga – 85
- Iowa – 81
- Kansas – 80
- Baylor – 79
- North Carolina – 77
- Providence – 77
- Marquette – 75
- South Dakota State – 75
- Kentucky – 74
Top Guards
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Andrew Nembhard | GONZ | GAST | 8500 | 27.72 | 8300 | 25.91 |
| Gonzaga’s point guard has been a stud DFS play all season and it shouldn’t stop now. The blowout factor is always a worry, but the Zags usually leave their starters in late into the second half in big leads anyway. Nembhard is averaging 32 DK over the past ten games and gives you at least 30-35 DFS points to anchor cash lineups. | ||||||
| Jacob Gilyard | RICH | IOWA | 8200 | 32.75 | 7700 | 30.38 |
| Richmond gets a big pace-boost here vs. Iowa and Gilyard stands to benefit from the up-tempo environment. He’s coming off a 26-point, 39 DK performance in the A-10 title game and is averaging 31 DK over the past ten games. The faster-paced matchup vs. Iowa’s below-average defense is much more beneficial for Gilyard. | ||||||
| Caleb Love | UNC | MARQ | 7600 | 27.51 | 6800 | 25.15 |
| The UNC-Marquette matchup is one of the higher totals on the slate, and it makes Love a great play while running the Tar Heels’ offense. He’s always a candidate to put up 30+ DFS points in higher-scoring environments, and can do just that today. If either Bacot or Manek struggle offensively, then Love will have to take over to avoid the loss. He makes for a better GPP play than cash on this slate. | ||||||
| Christian Braun | KU | TXSO | 7400 | 30.14 | 6500 | 27.93 |
| The KU attack should stand to benefit from a favorable matchup against a quick-paced Texas Southern squad. Ochai Agbaji and Braun are both solid plays, but Braun is a bit cheaper for similar production. His floor is also better for cash with rebounding and more ancillary stats than Agbaji. Plus, Agbaji has struggled shooting it lately and it could carry over into this game. | ||||||
| Al Durham | PROV | SDSU | 5800 | 23.14 | 6100 | 21.38 |
| If Providence wants to avoid the upset, it’ll have to keep pace with South Dakota State’s high-scoring and up-tempo offense. So for the Friars, Durham is one of the key ball-handlers that should see an uptick in usage and shot volume to anchor the offense. He just had 21 points and 31 DK in the last game vs. Creighton and may see a bigger role again with AJ Reeves possibly out or limited. | ||||||
Other Top Guards:
- David Roddy – Colorado State ($9,100 DK / $8,200 FD)
- JD Notae – Arkansas ($8,400 DK / $8,000 FD)
- Baylor Scheierman – South Dakota State ($7,600 DK / $7,500 FD)
- Kennedy Chandler – Tennessee ($7,200 DK / $6,300 FD)
- Jared Bynum – Providence ($6,800 DK / $6,500 FD)
- Sahvir Wheeler – Kentucky ($6,700 DK / $6,000 FD)
Value Guards
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Marcus Shaver Jr. | BSU | MEM | 5800 | 24.33 | 6100 | 22.44 |
| Shaver and Boise State get a notable pace-boost vs. Memphis today. Specifically for Shaver, the senior point guard is a tad underpriced for the potential at 30 DFS points or so. He’s shown that upside before this season, but the up-tempo matchup will put the ball in his hands even more. | ||||||
| Zakai Zeigler | TENN | LW | 5400 | 19.06 | 4700 | 17.02 |
| In what should be a comfortable win for Tennessee, the idea is that Zeigler will be running the offense a lot more in the second half with the sizable lead. Even if it’s close game, the freshman is still one of the Vols’ lead ball-handlers who’s averaging 20.8 DK over the past ten games with the upside for 25-30 DFS points. | ||||||
| Remy Martin | KU | TXSO | 4400 | 15.38 | 6300 | 14.14 |
| After battling a knee injury and barely making an impact all year, Martin is now fully relevant for DFS and real-life with some eye-opening performances recently. He played 19 and 26 minutes the last two games and put up 18 and 30 DK points, respectively, with double-digit points scored in both. This first round game should be another opportunity for Martin to get more comfortable. He’s a much better value on DK slate though. | ||||||
| Charlie Easley | SDSU | PROV | 4000 | 17.21 | 5300 | 15.66 |
| South Dakota State has a few value plays worth considering and Easley is one of them at some cheap prices, especially just 4k on the DK slate. He’s averaging 20 DK over the past ten games and has upside for a lot more if he’s hitting three’s. At the very least, he logs about 30 minutes or more per game and racks up enough ancillary stats for a decent floor. | ||||||
| Frankie Collins | MICH | CSU | 3200 | 6.86 | 3100 | 6.17 |
| With DeVante’ Jones out for Michigan, Collins will likely start at point guard today. The freshman has been the Wolverines’ backup PG all season but will need to step into a much larger role now with Jones sidelined with a concussion. At some dirt cheap prices, expect him to be popular in all formats – especially if he’s starting. | ||||||
Other Value Guards:
- Tony Perkins – Iowa ($5,700 DK / $5,600 FD)
- Alex Arians – South Dakota State ($4,900 DK / $4,400 FD)
- Jalen Hawkins – Norfolk State ($4,800 DK / $6,000 FD)
- John Tonje – Colorado State ($4,400 DK / $4,500 FD)
Top Forwards
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Chet Holmgren | GONZ | GAST | 9500 | 38.01 | 8800 | 35.27 |
| With Gonzaga in action, both Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme should be considered in all formats as both have the ceiling to smash the slate. The Georgia State frontcourt won’t be able to contain the Zags’ big men, but it’s just a matter of how much damage they do before the big lead sets in. Chances are, both Holmgren and Timme are a big part of that. Holmgren, though, has the GPP ceiling to go for 50-60 DFS points with his shot-blocking and three-point shooting. | ||||||
| Hunter Dickinson | MICH | CSU | 8700 | 35.66 | 8400 | 33.44 |
| As good as David Roddy is for Colorado State, he’s a small-ball five and will be giving up a ton of size to Dickinson tonight. Expect Michigan to feed Dickinson down low with that size advantage. He was already a high-usage player for the Wolverines, but he should see even more shot volume and workload with DeVante Jones’ out today. You should feel pretty comfortable rostering Dickinson in cash. | ||||||
| Justin Lewis | MARQ | UNC | 8600 | 33.24 | 7200 | 30.67 |
| The UNC frontcourt is very good offensively, but defense is not Bacot and Manek’s strong suit. So, let’s bank on Justin Lewis taking advantage here in a high-scoring matchup where he should see heavy shot volume on the offensive end. Lewis is averaging 18.2 PPG and 33 DK over the past ten games and has 40+ DFS point upside in this matchup and up-tempo environment. | ||||||
| Tyler Burton | RICH | IOWA | 7400 | 30.96 | 6600 | 28.57 |
| As mentioned earlier, Richmond gets a big pace-boost today vs. Iowa. Along with Gilyard, we can also look heavily at Burton being involved plenty to keep pace with the Hawkeyes against a below-average defense. Burton is averaging 29.5 DK over the past ten games but boasts a consistent floor of 25-30 DFS points with his rebounding. Expect a bit more with this higher-scoring environment. | ||||||
| Jalen Wilson | KU | TXSO | 7000 | 24.88 | 6200 | 23.23 |
| With Mitch Lightfoot likely sitting out today, the Kansas frontcourt rotation thins out a lot. It’s basically David McCormack as the only true center and then Wilson playing some small-ball five. In this matchup vs. Texas Southern with smaller bigs, Wilson may see a ton of playing time even in a comfortable win. The price tags seem pretty affordable for a guy that can rack up 30 DFS points or so with his rebounding, scoring and other stats. | ||||||
Other Top Forwards:
- Keegan Murray – Iowa ($10,100 DK / $9,400 FD)
- Drew Timme – Gonzaga ($8,300 DK / $8,500 FD)
- Brady Manek – North Carolina ($7,700 DK / $7,600 FD)
- Jalen Duren – Memphis ($7,500 DK / $7,900 FD)
- David McCormack – Kansas ($6,700 DK / $6,400 FD)
Value Forwards
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Tyson Degenhart | BSU | MEM | 5500 | 19.06 | 4900 | 17.76 |
| Degenhart is a nice cheap way to get exposure to Boise State’s pace-boost here vs. Memphis. The freshman is averaging 18.9 DK over the past ten games, but we can get 20-25 DFS points from him in the up-tempo environment with more opportunities at overall ancillary stats. Plus, Boise will need his versatile size to combat Memphis’ athleticism all over the court. | ||||||
| Justin Minaya | PROV | SDSU | 5500 | 19.2 | 4800 | 17.70 |
| Providence gets a notable pace-boost today and Minaya is a cheap way to have exposure to this high-total game. He’s averaging 19 DK over the past ten games as is, but there should be more rebounding opportunities than usual with how often South Dakota St shoots threes. Plus, expect more playing time and a bigger role if AJ Reeves is out or limited. | ||||||
| Brandon Huntley-Hatfield | TENN | LW | 4000 | 9.15 | 3900 | 8.31 |
| If Tennessee has a big lead in the second half as Vegas is predicting, then Huntley-Hatfield could get more playing time to return value. Even in a close game, he’s become a bigger part of the Vols’ frontcourt rotation with Nkamhoua sidelined. Today, there should be plenty of rebounding opportunities with how often Longwood shoots three’s. | ||||||
| Jordan Geronimo | IU | STMRY | 3800 | 10.64 | 4500 | 9.84 |
| Anyone else catch Geronimo coming out of nowhere with his 15 points, seven rebounds and 27 DK in the First Four on Tuesday? He’s been a fringe role player basically all season for Indiana, but there’s something to be said about a guy that made such a big impact to help IU move on. It’s a risk, but he’s cheap enough to take a chance in DK for another 20+ DFS points. | ||||||
| Josh Kunen | SFO | MURR | 3700 | 10.73 | 4100 | 10.30 |
| Kunen moved into the San Francisco starting lineup last game with Massalski out, and he’ll likely do so again. Though he only put up 15 DK in the starting role, the 28 minutes is a good sign that he should get tons of playing time again today with Massalski out again. It’s not great value, but you could do a lot worse at these cheap prices. | ||||||
Other Value Forwards:
- Ali Ali – Akron ($5,000 DK / $6,100 FD)
- Patrick McCaffery – Iowa ($4,800 DK / $4,900 FD)
- DJ Burns – Murray State ($4,800 DK / $5,200 FD)
- Patrick Tape – San Francisco ($4,500 DK / $5,100 FD)
- Anton Watson – Gonzaga ($4,000 DK / $5,400 FD)
DraftKings Core Plays
- Jacob Gilyard – Richmond ($8,200)
- Remy Martin – Kansas ($4,400)
- Frankie Collins – Michigan ($3,200)
FanDuel Early Core Plays
- Caleb Love – North Carolina ($6,800)
- Tyler Burton – Richmond ($6,600)
- Justin Minaya – Providence ($4,800)
FanDuel Late Core Plays
- Jalen Wilson – Kansas ($6,200)
- Josh Kunen – San Francisco ($4,100)