Welcome back to another weekend of college basketball action as we dive into top CBB DFS picks for Saturday. There are two games that pit Top-25 teams against each other- Caleb Love and No. 1 Arizona will be facing Zach Edey and No. 3 Purdue in the Indy Classic and Armando Bacot and No. 9 North Carolina play No. 14 Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic. It's a 12-game slate on DraftKings while FanDuel has an eight-game slate. Let's dive into all the top CBB DFS picks and value plays at the guard and forward positions tonight. All college basketball odds below are via DraftKings Sportsbook when publishing. Let’s dive into Saturday’s top college basketball DFS lineup picks!

 

College Basketball DFS Slate December 16, 2023

12p ET Louisiana State @ Texas (-7.0) 143.5 O/U

12p ET Georgia Tech @ Penn State (-2.0) 147.5 O/U

12:30p ET Kansas (-6.5) @ Indiana 147.5 O/U

2p ET Baylor (-3.5) @ Michigan State 144.5 O/U

2:15p ET Georgetown @ Notre Dame (-5.00 138.0 O/U

2:30p ET Texas A&M @ Houston (-8.5) 132.5 O/U

3p ET Clemson @ Memphis (-2.5) 151.5 O/U

3p ET UCLA @ Ohio State (-2.5) 135.0 O/U

4p ET Florida Atlantic (-9.5) @ St. Bonaventure 148.0 O/U

4:30p ET Arizona @ Purdue (-1.0) 159.0 O/U

5:30p ET Kentucky @ North Carolina (-1.0) 164.5 O/U

5:30p ET Northwestern (-9.5) @ DePaul 142.5 O/U

7p ET Dayton @ Cincinnati (-5.5) 140.5 O/U FD Only

8p ET Alabama @ Creighton (-6.5) 164.5 O/U FD Only

 

Top CBB DFS Guards

Kevin McCullar Jr. - Kansas @ Indiana ($9.5K DK/8.5K FD)

Kansas is one of the top teams in the country and Kevin McCullar Jr. plays a very big factor in this team’s success. He is the second highest scorer on the team just behind center Hunter Dickinson and he has been more efficient this year than any other season in his collegiate career. The 6-foot-6 wing is also averaging a career high in points per game at 19.2 points per game as he is nearly doubling his scoring average from a year ago which is what a lot of scouts and NBA personnel wanted to see from him in his final year in college basketball. The No. 9 ranked player in the KenPom player of the year rankings McCullar is the team’s usage and shot leader (26.3% usage/26.8% shot) with a 24.4% assist rate.  It seems like McCullar has improved at every single aspect of his game on the offensive end and with a 40 DK point average he is the top overall guard on the slate. 

Reed Sheppard - Kentucky vs. North Carolina ($7.3K DK/7.5K FD)

The lowest ranked player in the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation is the one that is taking the Bluegrass State and college basketball by storm- Reed Sheppard. The kid has kicked off his collegiate career about as well as anyone could have hoped. Through nine games, he’s averaging 13 points on 61% shooting from the field and 59% from three. He is also adding 4.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.0 steals, and just under one block per game for the Cats. Sheppard is arguably Kentucky’s most complete player, and this may be his highest price of the year, but he has shown enough by now to warrant a main team DFS play in what should be one of the best games on the slate against North Carolina.

Kylan Boswell - Arizona @ Purdue ($6.2K DK/6.6K FD)

No. 1 Arizona continues to dominate, and Kylan Boswell continues to be one of the biggest reasons why. In last weekend’s win over No. 23 Wisconsin, Boswell scored 10 points and dished nine assists, a typical stat sheet stuffing day for the sophomore. Boswell has a 25.6% assist rate (5.6 APG over his last five) and has been over 20 DK in every game this season. Arizona is one of the best guard teams in the country and I would have either Boswell or teammate Caleb Love in every one of my lineups with a nod going to the discounted price of the $6.2K sophomore. 

Other Top CBB DFS Guards

Boo Buie, Northwestern ($8.8K DK)

Tyson Walker, Michigan State ($6.9K DK)- Just too cheap for the game environment

Caleb Love, North Carolina ($7.6K DK/7.8K FD)

Ray J Dennis, Baylor ($8.1K DK/7.3K FD)- Top FD Guard

Antonio Reeves, Kentucky ($6.9K DK/6.7K FD)

Mike Adams Woods, St. Bonaventure ($6.7K DK)- Solid cash play 

Miles Kelly, Georgia Tech ($6.8K DK)

Kanye Clary, Penn State ($6.6K DK)

 

Top CBB DFS Value Guard

Dylan Andrews - UCLA vs. Ohio State ($5.6K DK/5.1K FD)

With Tyger Campbell graduating the Bruins are now led by rising sophomore Dylan Andrews. This is a former top-50 recruit who could end up being a gigantic x-factor not only in the Pac-12 but also from a national standpoint. He is averaging 32-plus minutes with a 9.3 PPG and 4.2 APG (26.4% assist rate). Over his last five games Andrews is scoring a little over 20 DK points and even though this game will be slow against Ohio State he is still a decent play on a slate severely lacking any guard value.

Other Top CBB DFS Value Guards

Caleb Mills, Memphis ($5.5K DK)

Elliot Cadeau, North Carolina ($5.0K DK/4.9K FD)

Nathan George, Georgia Tech ($4.9K DK)

Moses Flowers, St. Bonaventure ($4.4K DK)

Braeden Shrewsberry, Notre Dame ($4.5K DK)

Elmarko Jackson, Kansas ($4.3K DK/4.6K FD)

 

Top CBB DFS Forwards

David Jones - Memphis vs. Clemson ($8.6K DK)

David Jones is coming off a monster week which led to an AAC Player of the Week honor and then the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week award. Jones averaged 26.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last week, helping Memphis to road wins over VCU and No. 21 Texas A&M. He is the leading scorer in the AAC at 20.1 points-per game and has now recorded three-consecutive 20-point games and has five outings this season with 20-plus points, the most in the league. As the No. 10 ranked player in the KenPom Player of the Year Standings Jones has a 28.5% usage/30.0% shot rate and the top overall forward if you cannot get to the $9K-plus studs.

Baye Ndongo - Georgia Tech @ Penn State ($6.8K DK)

At first look $6.8K is just too expensive for freshman forward Baye Ndongo. Most casual observers first heard Ndongo’s game during his coming out party against Duke two weeks ago when the 6-9 native of Senegal made 9-of-11 shots from the floor in Tech’s 72-68 win over the Blue Devils, including a layup that tied the game at 68-all with 1:20 remaining, then a dunk for the go-ahead points with 44 seconds on the clock. Now he gets to face a Penn State team that struggles against front court players that are active on the boards and can block shots. They have a team 34.8% defensive rebounding efficiency rate (320nd in the nation!) and the Yellow Jackets’ Ndongo carries a 33.5% combined rebound and 10.5% block rate. Over his last five games he is also averaging 25.7 DK to go along with 8.2 PPG/7.0 RPG. The price may be scary but hopefully Ndongo flies under the radar here and we can catch a 30+ DK point game to hop over the field in cash and GPPs. 

Ismael Massoud - Georgetown @ Notre Dame ($5.8K DK)

Senior forward Ismael Massoud, who transferred from Kansas State for his fifth season of college basketball, made a quick return to the court after breaking his hand in a closed scrimmage against Pittsburgh at the end of October. The Hoyas desperately needed his size in the lineup and since his return on 11/29 Massoud is shooting at a rate of 25.1% to go along with a 5.4% block rate. He is also the team’s usage leader over the last five games (23.1%) while scoring at a clip of 27.0 DK points. Take the discount on Massoud against Notre Dame this weekend as this will be the last time we see him sub-$6K. 

Other Top CBB DFS Forwards

Zach Edey, Purdue ($11.2K DK/9.5K FD) - Edey is always the top overall play of the slate but at $11.2K can you afford him without blowing up your lineup?

PJ Hall, Clemson ($9.9K DK)

Armando Bacot, North Carolina ($9.2K DK/8.6K FD) - I think you need one of Bacot or Ingram in your lineup. Bacot dealt with a knee injury in his last game against UConn, if there was no health question he would be a core play today.

Harrison Ingram, North Carolina ($8.0K DK/7.7K FD) - I think you need one of Bacot or Ingram in your lineup.

Dillon Mitchell, Texas ($6.9K DK)

Yves Missi, Baylor ($6.6K DK/6.6K FD)

Malik Reneau, Indiana ($6.5K DK/6.8K FD)

J’Wan Roberts, Houston ($6.4K DK/5.8K FD)

 

Top CBB DFS Forward Values

Barry Evans - St. Bonaventure vs. Florida Atlantic ($3.4K DK)

Barry Evans joined the Bonnies starting lineup two weeks ago at Buffalo when Charles Pride went down with an ankle injury. He is projecting as one of the top point per dollar plays at forward due to his low price but he is certainly volatile, picking up four fouls in two of the last four games. If Evans stays out of foul trouble, he is good for 25-29 minutes and 6X value which is certainly good enough on a slate like today. Check the Fantasy Alarm discord for any up-to-date news on any of these players as we get closer to lock.

Other Top CBB DFS Forwards

Felix Okpara, Ohio State ($5.2K DK/5.6K FD)

Aday Mara, UCLA ($4.7K DK/4.4K FD)

Nick Jourdain, Memphis ($4.3K DK)

Chauncey Wiggins, Clemson ($4.4K DK)

Kebba Njie, Notre Dame ($4.7K DK)

Mohamed Wague, Alabama ($5.3K FD) FD Value 

 

DRAFTKINGS CORE

UPDATED

Kylan Boswell- Arizona

Ismael Massoud- Georgetown

Mika Adams-Woods- St. Bonaventure

 

FANDUEL CORE

Zach Edey- Purdue

Oumar Ballo- Arizona

Ray J Dennis- Baylor