Still waking up from yesterday’s snoozefest of a Super Bowl? Same here - but it’s time to get back into the DFS College Basketball grind with March Madness right around the corner!

Although tonight’s slate is just four games deep, we have some entertaining teams and players to build lineups from. Louisville and Virginia Tech meet in the headliner game tonight between two Top 25 ACC squads. Two Big 12 matchups tip at 9 pm ET with two other Top 25 teams in action as well.

DraftKings and Fanduel both include all four matchups, tipping at 7 pm ET.

Keep in mind with such a smaller player pool than usual on a shorter slate of games, nearly every team and game are in play. Don’t be afraid to stack teams more often than you normally would if the opportunity presents itself - especially among the favored teams.

Along the same lines, we won’t tell you to fade or target any of these games as nearly every game/team is in play tonight with just four matchups to build lineups from. Instead, we’ll simply outline each of the games on the slate with the spread and implied point totals according to KenPom’s predictions.

With a specific eye towards recent game trends, favorable matchups, rotations and KenPom’s advanced stats, we’ll outline the guards and forwards to prioritize in your DFS CBB lineups today for both sites. Let’s get into it.
 

Games On Tonight’s Slate:

  • Louisville @ Virginia Tech - 7 pm ET (VT -6 / 138 Implied Total)

  • Penn State @ Northwestern - 8 pm ET (NW -5 / 129 Implied Total)

  • Iowa State @ Oklahoma - 9 pm ET (ISU -2 / 142 Implied Total)

  • West Virginia @ Texas Tech - 9 pm ET (TT -13 / 135 Implied Total)

Guards

Jarrett Culver - TT ($8,800 DK / $8,600 FD) - As one of the best players in college basketball and easily the most talented player on this slate, Culver rightfully comes in as the highest-priced guard on both sites. It’ll be tough to fade the Texas Tech sophomore in cash and tournaments on such a short slate with the usual floor and ceiling he provides - despite coming off one of his worst performances of the year with just 16.5 DK points vs. Kansas on Saturday. Over the last 10 games, though, Culver is averaging 34 DK points per game as he’s as much a nightly threat to score 25 real points as he is to record five steals and/or double-digit rebounds+assists. Last time out vs. West Virginia, Culver only put up 29.5 DK points but he’ll be at home this time around with the motivation the come out and dominate after the weekend’s loss to KU.

Nick Weiler-Babb - ISU ($6,500 DK / $6,800 FD) - Iowa State is loaded with talented guards who all share the scoring wealth and DFS production pretty evenly. Weiler-Babb particularly stands out, though, as the senior point guard with a consistent 25-30 DK points floor because of his regular contribution in scoring, assists, rebounds and steals with a guaranteed 35+ minutes. Over the past ten games, Weiler-Babb is averaging 11 points, nine rebounds/assists and two steals per outing - plus he’s yet to score less than 20 DK points during that span. The only downside is his ceiling isn’t notably high as he hasn’t exceeded 33 DK points in over a month. This makes Weiler-Babb only cash game viable for now - but a strong cash play nonetheless.

Anthony Gaines - NW ($4,900 DK / $6,300 FD) - This Penn State-Northwestern game is one we generally want to avoid tonight, but Gaines presents an affordable one-off play. The sophomore has started four of the last five games after beginning the season on the bench and has become one of Northwestern’s best DFS producers during this recent stretch. Over the last two games, Gaines has seen 11 shots in each and exploded for a career-high 18 points in last week’s loss to Maryland. He seems to have earned a starting job going forward with a greater share of shots in the past five games than he saw all season. Obviously Gaines is more affordable on DK tonight, but his FanDuel price is workable into lineups for cash games as well.

Wabissa Bede - VT ($3,900 DK / $5,000 FD) - With Tech’s starting point guard Justin Robinson currently out indefinitely with a foot injury, it’s Bede who has seen the biggest bump in playing time and DFS value. Bede started in Robinson’s place on Saturday and put up nine points, four steals, three boards and two assists for 24.75 DK points - an instant value at his $3,800 salary. Interestingly, his price only went up $100 on DK tonight - so lock him into all lineups as he’ll get 35+ minutes as Tech’s now lead PG on an injury-ravaged roster. His FanDuel price is a bit higher, but it’s worth working him in because of the close to guaranteed minutes and usage he will have. Bede had started the previous three games before Saturday’s outing and even saw 37 minutes following Robinson’s injury two games ago.

Brandon Knapper - WVU ($3,600 DK / $4,800 FD) - West Virginia’s rotations have been impossible to figure out lately. The team has lost seven of nine conference games this season - leading to coach Bob Huggins switching up the starters near-daily and giving crunch time minutes to someone new each game. Knapper was the latest beneficiary of the extended playing time and usage in Saturday’s win over Oklahoma. The freshman led all scorers with 25 points, going 4-for-6 from three-point range, in 25 minutes off the bench. Although it was the most on-court time he’s seen in a game since November, Huggins could opt to roll Knapper out more than usual tonight considering he was one of the key reasons West Virginia won on Saturday. Even at this cheap price, consider Knapper a dart play only because of the inconsistency in playing time - he averaged just eight minutes per game over his last seven outings.

Other Guards to Consider:

  • Talen Horton-Tucker - ISU ($6,900 DK / $7,200 FD)

  • Davide Moretti - TT ($5,200 DK / $6,200 FD)

  • Jamal Bieniemy - OU ($4,400 DK / $5,300 FD)

Forwards

Mike Watkins - PSU ($6,700 DK / $6,600 FD) - The forward position isn’t particularly strong on this short slate, leaving most lineups to likely take a balanced approach at the position. Watkins, though, could be a bit underpriced, as his matchup sets him up to have a monster night. Watkins owns the best defensive rebounding rate in the country - that’s out of over 2,000 players ranked nationally, according to KenPom. On the other hand, Northwestern (his opponent tonight) is poor on the offensive boards and are undersized overall without a starter above 6’8”. Watkins stands at 6’9” and is averaging close to a double-double over the last ten games with massive rebound potential every night.

Dwayne Sutton - LOU ($6,300 DK / $7,700 FD) - Sutton has really benefited from playing second-fiddle to Jordan Nwora in Louisville’s offense. As the team’s top wing scorer, Nwora usually commands opponents’ top defenders and steals defensive attention away from Sutton, who leads the Cardinals in offensive rating and is coming off two massive DFS performances of 45 and 38 DK points. In those games, Sutton showed DFS players what he’s truly capable of when he contributes double-digit points and rebounds with a few steals, blocks and assists thrown in. Virginia Tech does have a tougher defense, but Sutton could dominate again vs. an undersized Hokies team that should be focused on shutting down Nwora more often than not. Take not of Sutton’s price differential between the two sites - his DK price is cash-viable while his FD mark is more GPP-worthy.

Tariq Owens - TT ($6,000 DK / $6,400 FD) - As mentioned earlier, the lack of elite talent at the top of the forward position is almost forcing us to go with three mid-price players who can all return 4x or 5x value. In fact, Owens has 4x-ed his current DK price in seven of the last ten games - largely because of his blocking ability. The 6’10” senior owns the 6th-best block rate in all of college basketball with three or more blocks in six of the last ten outings. West Virginia doesn’t get its shots blocked a ton - but then again, no team really does until it faces Owens in the paint. Considering his talent and ability to exceed value, Owens may be a bit underpriced on both sites and makes for a pretty attractive cash game play.

Other Forwards to Consider:

  • Kerry Blackshear - VT ($7,000 DK / $7,300 FD)

  • Esa Ahmed - WVU ($6,600 DK / $7,600 FD)

  • Brady Manek - OU ($6,500 DK / $6,100 FD)

 

Example Lineup on DraftKings:

G: Nick Weiler-Babb, ISU - $6,500

G: Anthony Gaines, NW - $4,900

G: Jarrett Culver, TT - $8,800

F: Mike Watkins, PSU - $6,700

F: Dwayne Sutton, LOU - $6,300

F: Tariq Owens, TT - $6,000

U: Talen Horton-Tucker, ISU - $6,900

U: Wabissa Bede, VT - $3,900

Example Lineup on FanDuel:

G: Jamal Bieniemy, OU - $5,300

G: Brandon Knapper, WVU - $4,800

G: Jarrett Culver, TT - $8,600

G: Wabissa Bede, VT - $5,000

F: Mike Watkins, PSU - $6,600

F: Brady Manek, OU - $6,100

F: Tariq Owens, TT - $6,400

U: Talen Horton-Tucker, ISU - $7,200