Welcome back, college basketball fans!! While it may seem like just yesterday when Virginia was cutting down the nets as champs, the 2019-20 CBB season is finally here and we’re back for another year of DFS College Hoops! 

Each week we will cover three or four of the bigger DFS CBB slates on DraftKings and FanDuel throughout the season. It all tips off on this Tuesday, November 5th with a seven-game slate on DK and a five-gamer on FD. The action is headlined by the two marquee matchups in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden with the nation’s four top-ranked teams taking center stage. We’ll definitely touch on the top players to target in your lineups from those games and the rest of the action on this slate from both sites. 

With a specific eye towards expected rotations, usage rates, implied point totals, matchups and KenPom’s advanced stats, we’ll outline the guards and forwards to prioritize in your DFS CBB lineups today for both sites. We’ll also point out the games to generally target and fade today based on pace of play, spread, and implied point totals as predicted by KenPom.

If you have any questions or comments about CBB DFS strategy or college basketball in general, feel free to hit up my Twitter @dan_servodidio. Good luck!

Teams To Target:

  • Nevada -- 80 Implied Points vs. Utah **DK ONLY**
  • North Carolina State -- 80 IP vs. Georgia Tech
  • Duke -- 78 IP vs. Kansas 
  • Oregon -- 76 IP vs. Fresno State **DK ONLY**
  • Kansas -- 74 IP vs. Duke
  • Georgia Tech -- 72 IP at NC State

GUARDS

Cassius Winston - Michigan State ($8,800 DK / $8,500 FD) 

If you followed college basketball or played CBB DFS last year, you likely remember Cassius Winston being one of the best guards in the nation and averaging 35.9 DK points as a nightly DFS beast. If you are new here, though, the Michigan State point guard is a preseason Wooden Award favorite and is the offensive motor who anchors the No. 1 ranked Spartans. His shots share and usage were high last season, but Winston will probably have to do even more offensively now with Nick Ward graduated, Joshua Langford being hurt again and not much scoring depth at the guard position for Michigan State. Although he has a tough individual matchup vs. Kentucky’s Ashton Hagans tonight, Winston should have the ball in his hands a ton and will provide safe DFS value as either a scorer or distributor in the opener. 

Markell Johnson - North Carolina State ($7,500 DK / $7,200 FD)

Whenever NC State is on the DFS slate, we want to target the Wolfpack in some capacity because of their top-40 pace and propensity to light up the scoreboard with more offensive possessions than the average team. Frankly, there’s just more DFS production to go around for the teams that play faster and have more chances at accruing fantasy points, and Markell Johnson is the best player on the Wolfpack. For those unfamiliar with Johnson, he’s one of the best raw scorers in college basketball but unfortunately has an equal chance of hitting his DFS ceiling and floor on the same night. If you’re a baseball fan, think of that home run hitter who could either strike out four times or smash two dingers in any given game. That was Johnson for NC State last season as he scored 19+ real points eight times but was held to single digits 12 times. In last week’s exhibition game, though, Johnson gave us a glimpse of what he can provide as he racked up 26 points, nine assists, six steals and three rebounds in just 27 minutes. 

Ochai Agbaji - Kansas ($6,400 DK / $6,200 FD)

Agbaji broke out last season for Kansas and he should be one of the top scoring options for this team right from the get-go. In last week’s exhibition games, he led the Jayhawks in scoring both times with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Plus, he shot 8-for-15 from three-point range over Kansas’ the first two preseason contests as he’s clearly getting the shots share in this offense. While the pure scoring is there, Agbaji will provide a decent floor in ancillary stats like assists and rebounds, which is an underrated value in DFS CBB. In those two exhibitions, he has racked up six assists and four rebounds in 22 minutes in one game and six boards and three steals in the other. Yes, we need to take these preseason numbers with a grain of salt, but it’s certainly encouraging to see Agbaji stuffing the stat sheet with a starting role locked up. He also gets a boost in value right now with Isaiah Moss battling a hamstring injury. 

Jalen Harris - Nevada ($5,100 DK Only)

If you’re playing on DraftKings, we definitely want exposure to these Nevada players as they are tied with NC State for the most implied points on the slate. The Wolf Pack lost a ton of scoring from last year’s team as the Martin twins and Jordan Carolina are now gone. Jalen Harris looks like he will take over the bulk of the shots share this season. Harris, who sat out last year after transferring from Louisiana Tech, led Nevada in scoring with 21 points and eight rebounds in an exhibition game last month. In the second exhibition game, Harris had 26 points in 27 minutes and was the main scorer for Nevada again. Jazz Johnson is the only major returning player from this squad and Harris looks like he’ll be the number one scoring option on this year’s team.

Landers Nolley II - Virginia Tech ($4,900 DK / $5,100 FD)

Virginia Tech has rehauled their rotation from last season after losing Kerry Blackshear, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Justin Robinson, Ahmed Hill and Ty Outlaw over the summer. That’s a ton of usage and scoring opportunities now open for the Hokies, and it seems like Landers Nolley will be the main beneficiary of those departures. Nolley, a redshirt freshman, is a natural wing scorer who should see a ton of minutes at small and power forward for Virginia Tech and may wind up being the team’s leading scorer this year. At 6-foot-7, 225 pounds, Nolley is the biggest body in Tech’s expected lineup and he could be looked upon a ton to score in the paint and grab rebounds on both ends. Note that Nolley is only guard eligible on FD but has dual guard/forward eligibility on DK. 

Other Guards to Consider:

  • Payton Pritchard - Oregon ($7,200 DK Only)
  • C.J. Bryce - NC State ($6,600 DK / $6,800 FD)
  • Tyrese Maxey - Kentucky ($6,300 DK / $6,300 FD)
  • Ashton Hagans - Kentucky ($5,200 DK / $5,900 FD)
  • Both Gach - Utah ($5,000 DK Only)
  • Logan Johnson - Saint Mary’s ($3,700 DK / $3,000 FD

FORWARDS

James Banks III - Georgia Tech ($8,300 DK / $7,800 FD)

We mentioned earlier how we like to target fast-paced teams for DFS CBB, but we also want to get exposure to the opposing teams in those matchups. While NC State will play fast, this will also force Georgia Tech to match the tempo and play quicker than normal. Tech’s best player is James Banks and he will be a nightly double-double threat after emerging as a really good rebounder last season. Banks had 19 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks against NC State last year and he could easily replicate those numbers in tonight’s rematch. Banks could be a matchup problem in the paint for NC State because the Wolfpack will be without their starting center DJ Funderburk (suspension), and will instead turn to an inexperienced Manny Bates. Plus, Banks should have a ton of defensive rebounding opportunities in this up tempo matchup with how often NC State will shoot the ball. 

Udoka Azubuike - Kansas ($6,900 DK / $7,500 FD)

With Dedric Lawson gone, Kansas will turn to Azubuike as their main man down low to be an offensive and defensive beast. Azubuike, the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, is a nightly double-double threat because of his dominant paint presence on both ends and he’ll be a handful for Duke’s frontcourt tonight. The Blue Devils no longer have Zion Williamson manning the paint and instead will need true freshman Vernon Carey and a couple other unproven bigs to guard both Azubuike and Silvio De Sousa. This is a big advantage for Azubuike and he’ll be the favorite to come down with the majority of rebounds and get easy put backs on offense. A broken wrist sidelined him for much of last season, but he’s supposedly fully healthy and could show out on the big stage in this nationally televised matchup. His price is also a bargain right now because he could wind up being 8k or more on both sites in a week or two. 

Nate Reuvers - Wisconsin ($5,800 DK / $5,900 FD)

Ethan Happ is finally gone and it leaves Reuvers to fill that frontcourt void for the Badgers. Honestly, this may be the cheapest salary we see him for the rest of the season if he takes on the Happ-like role for Wisconsin, which is right there for the taking. Reuvers averaged just 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds last year but that was with Happ taking up a ton of usage. With Happ gone, Reuvers should have a ton more shot and rebound opportunities while playing 30+ minutes nightly. Happ had the eighth highest possession usage in the nation last season and dominated the shots share for Wisconsin. Even if Reuvers takes over three-quarters of those opportunities, he’ll likely be a 7k player on both sites in the next week or so. If you do roster Reuvers, though, just be cautious of how low-scoring this game vs. Saint Mary’s could end being between two slower-paced teams. 

Matthew Hurt - Duke ($5,400 DK / $6,100 FD)

Duke no longer has Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett dominating the DFS production and it leaves a ton of scoring opportunities open for the incoming freshman. Vernon Carey is the more well-known newcomer for the Blue Devils, but Hurt could wind up leading the team in scoring this season. Hurt scored 19 and 17 points in two exhibition games and he was logging more minutes and shooting more often than the majority of the team. The five-star prospect is honestly just way too cheap for what his usage and shots share will be for Duke. Hurt also gets a boost in DFS value tonight as Carey might struggle in a tough matchup vs. Kansas’ big man duo of Udoka Azubuike and Silvio De Sousa. 

Thomas Kithier - Michigan State ($3,000 DK / $4,200 FD)

We finally get to the best value play on the slate. Kithier is expected to start alongside Xavier Tillman in Michigan State’s frontcourt, and he’s min-priced on DK and pretty cheap on FD as well. Kithier suffered a broken nose in practice recently but he’s reportedly good to go tonight as he will wear a protective face mask. The sophomore can play both the power forward and center positions to complement Tillman and he should have the upper-hand against Kentucky’s inexperienced forwards with starting center Nick Richards out. It is not out of the question to expect 15-20 DFS points from Kithier and at such a cheap salary, it will be tough to avoid the value as he opens up the rest of your lineup. 

Other Forwards to Consider:

  • Vernon Carey Jr. - Duke ($8,500 DK / $8,000 FD)
  • Xavier Tillman - Michigan State ($7,300 DK / $7,600 FD)
  • Shakur Juiston - Oregon ($5,600 DK Only)
  • Manny Bates - NC State ($4,800 DK / $4,200 FD)
  • Khavon Moore - Clemson ($3,000 DK / $3,000 FD)

Example Lineup on DraftKings:

G: Markell Johnson - NCST ($7,500)

G: Cassius Winston - MSU ($8,800)

G: Jalen Harris - NEV ($5,100)

F: James Banks - GT ($8,300)

F: Matthew Hurt - DUKE ($5,400)

F: Thomas Kithier - MSU ($3,000)

U: Landers Nolley - VT ($4,900)

U: Udoka Azubuike - KU ($6,900)

Example Lineup on FanDuel:

G: Cassius Winston - MSU ($8,500)

G: Ochai Agbaji - KU ($6,200)

G: Landers Nolley - VT ($5,100)

G: Tyrese Maxey - UK ($6,300)

F: Udoka Azubuike - KU ($7,500)

F: Matthew Hurt - DUKE ($6,100)

F: Thomas Kithier - MSU ($4,200)

U: Nate Reuvers - WIS ($5,900)