Happy holidays and welcome back to another weekend of college basketball action as we dive into top CBB DFS picks for Saturday. There is one game that pits two Top-25 teams against each other as Caleb Love and No. 4 Arizona faces off with last year’s tournament Cinderella No. 14 Florida Atlantic in the Desert Holiday Classic. We will also No. 25 Ole Miss face off against Southern Miss, No. 23 Memphis and David Jones host Vanderbilt and then in the late hammer game No. 5 and defending National Champion UConn will play St. John’s in a Big East battle. It's a seven-game slate on DraftKings while FanDuel has a six-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. Good luck with your college basketball DFS lineups today!

 

College Basketball DFS Slate December 23, 2023

12p ET Butler @ Providence (-5.5) 142.5 O/U

12p ET Mississippi State (-2.0) @ Rutgers 130.5 O/U

2p ET Seton Hall @ Xavier (-3.5) 146.0 O/U

3p ET Arizona (-6.5) @ Florida Atlantic 161.5 O/U

4p ET Vanderbilt @ Memphis (-18.0) 150.5 O/U

4p ET Villanova (-12.5) @ DePaul 135.0 O/U 

8p ET St. John’s @ Connecticut (-10.0) 148.0 O/U 

 

Top CBB DFS Guards

Kadary Richmond - Seton Hall @ Xavier ($8.4K DK/8.4 K FD) 

There may not be a more disruptive guard in college basketball than Kadary Richmond and his style of play can wreak havoc on a team like Xavier. The former Syracuse guard is coming off a fifty burger in the Pirates big upset of UConn as he scored 23 points, eight steals, six rebounds, five assists and one block across 34 minutes. He leads the team with a 27.3% usage/25.7% shot rate to go along with an assist rate of 27.6% and steal of 4.5%. This game could go off as I like the over on the 147.0 game total and if it does, we can be sure that Kadary Richmond will be stuffing the stat sheet. 

Desmond Claude - Xavier vs. Seton Hall ($7.5K DK/7.5K FD)

Desmond Claude has emerged as Xavier’s go-to guy and leading scorer and looks the part of a future pro. He has good size (6-5), is athletic, a slasher and is a real clever finisher around the basket. With a 25% usage/25.9% shot rate to go along with a 22.8% assist rate Claude is now at highest price point of the season but he just gets better every game. His DFS production has risen each game over the last five and Claude is now coming off his best game of the season where he torched St. John’s for a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds (40 DK).  Today Claude is home and facing a Seton Hall team that will push the pace but also may experience a hangover from their big upset over UConn this week. 

Kylan Boswell - Arizona vs FAU ($6.4K DK/6.7K FD)

I respect FAU too much and have made a habit of not picking on them in DFS, but we may have to make an exception today. Kylan Boswell is that guy and a price of $6.4k is a slap in the face especially when Arizona comes in with an 85.00 team total this afternoon. Boswell had his worst game of the year last weekend at Purdue (10.8 DK) but bounced right back and smashed Alabama for 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and five steals (33.5 DK). He is as consistent as they come with double figure scoring in every game but two this season so when building your cash game lineups Kylan Boswell is always at the top of the list. 

Other Top CBB DFS Guards

  • Tristan Newton - Connecticut ($9.4K DK) GPP
  • Devin Carter - Providence ($8.5K DK/8.3K FD) GPP 
  • Johnell Davis - Florida Atlantic ($8.0K DK/7.6K FD)
  • Quincy Olivari - Xavier ($7.2K DK/7.2K FD)
  • Jahvon Quinerly - Memphis ($7.2K DK/6.9K FD) Cash/GPP
  • Pelle Larsson - Arizona ($6.6K DK/6.5K FD) Cash/GPP
  • Ezra Manjon - Vanderbilt ($6.4K DK/6.3K FD) GPP

 

Top CBB DFS Value Guard

Jordan Longino – Villanova @ DePaul ($5.3K DK/5.7K FD)

Jordan Longino is finally healthy. After a torn meniscus ended his freshman year and then a torn hamstring disrupted last season it’s easy to see the difference in Longino from this time last year. After watching him in the Creighton game on Wednesday you can see it in the way he gets off the ground near the rim and the way he leaps on his jump shots. With Justin Moore assumed out he is now playing nearly 25 minutes a game and averaging 9.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2,1 assists. Longino’s usage and shot rates are now over 20% when he is on the floor, and he has put up 25+ DK points in three of his last four games. Villanova is ranked 43rd in team adjusted efficiency offense and will be home against a terrible DePaul team that we pick on every time that they are on a slate. Hopefully he flies under the radar today because Jordan Longino is set up for another 5-6X performance.

Other Top CBB DFS Value Guards

  • Al-Amir Dawes - Seton Hall ($5.6K DK/5.5K FD) - Dawes is so volatile which puts him in GPP territory only, but he can smash (34 DK at Missouri a week ago).
  • Jordan Dingle - St. John’s ($5.4K DK) - Taylor, a former Penn star, has been a disappointment in regard to scoring but that big game is coming.
  • Hakim Hart - Villanova ($5.0K DK/5.4K FD) - Hart has scored between 20-23.5 DK in four straight games with Justin Moore out.
  • Jaykwon Walton - Memphis ($4.9K DK/5.1K FD) - Walton has scored between 15-17 DK in every game but one over his last five. 
  • Mark Armstrong - Villanova ($3.5K DK/4.7K FD) - Armstrong may catch ownership due to his ultra-low price but has only scored double digit DK once in his last five games. 

 

Top CBB DFS Forwards

David Jones - Memphis vs. Vanderbilt ($9.2K DK/8.5K FD)

David Jones is playing out of his mind. He scored 26 points to lead Memphis in a 77-54 smacking of Virginia on Tuesday and the St. John's transfer leads the Tigers in scoring (20.8), rebounding (6.3) and steals (2.2). He has always been a solid forward, but I do not think anyone saw this coming as Jones is now seventh in the KenPom Player of the Year rankings with a 29.2% usage and 30.1% short rate. With at least 20 real points in five straight games and 40+ DK in three of those five David Jones has a real chance at a fifty burger today against a weak Vanderbilt squad.

Eric Dixon - Villanova @ DePaul ($7.4K DK/6.8K FD)

With Justin Moore out Eric Dixon has to shoulder more of the load, and he played out of his mind in the Wildcats upset over Creighton this week. Dixon scored 15 of Villanova’s 24 first-half points, while the second-leading scorer, Tyler Burton, had just three and it was on. He had a season-high in field goal attempts and three-pointers and it led to his second 30 real point outing of the year (46.0 DK). He leads the team with a 26.2% usage/26.4% shot rate to go along with a 27.9% combine rebound. Dixon does not get called for many fouls (2.3 FC/40) and will get to the line as he draws 4.6 FD/40. With Justin Moore expected out (and even if he plays) Eric Dixon will stuff the stat sheet as one of the top point per dollar forwards on the slate in a cake matchup against DePaul.

Josh Oduro - Providence vs. Butler ($7.3K DK/7.3K FD)

Josh Oduro, a two-time all-conference selection in the Atlantic 10, has not missed a beat after transferring to Providence. The traditional post presence at 6-foot-9 has a 20.4% defensive rebounding rate along with a 5.1% block rate. As long as he stays out of foul trouble (Oduro has fouled out in two straight) this is a 4-6X return spot against Butler. Oduro has put up 30+ DK in two of his last four and Butler allows 11 rebounds a game to opposing big men. This should be another under the radar play but I’m confident in a $7.3K Josh Oduro.

Other Top CBB DFS Forwards

  • Joel Soriano - St. John’s ($10.1K DK)- If we get word that Donovan Clingan of UConn is out, Soriano becomes a near must play for me. The issue here is that this is the last game of the slate so you will need to get creative. Cash/GPP
  • Clifford Omoruyi, -Rutgers ($8.1K DK/8.2K FD) GPP
  • Bryce Hopkins G/F - Providence ($8.1K DK/8.1K FD) GPP
  • Keshad Johnson - Arizona ($7.8K DK/7.2K FD) Cash/GPP
  • Jahmyl Telfort - Butler ($7.4K DK/7.4K FD) Cash/GPP
  • Alex Karaban - Connecticut ($7.1K DK) GPP
  • Oumar Ballo - Arizona ($7.2K DK/6.5K FD)
  • Tyler Burton - Villanova ($7.0K DK/6.4K FD) Cash/GPP
  • Jaden Bediako - Seton Hall ($6.5K DK/6.7 K FD) Cash/GPP 

 

Top CBB DFS Value Forward

Glenn Taylor - St. John’s @ Connecticut ($4.4K DK)

Once again, forward is lacking value, but I am interested in Glenn Taylor at $4.4K DK. He is coming off a 35-minute game against Xavier and put up 22 DK points on eight points and six rebounds. Foul issues on other St. John’s players allowed Taylor to play that many minutes but he has played 30+ in three of his last games. This is a solid player that was $6.5K in mid-November and if we can get a 5-7X return we will be in very good shape.

Other Top CBB DFS Value Forwards

  • Malcolm Dandridge - Memphis ($5.2K DK/5.3K FD)- I prefer Dandridge over teammate Nick Jourdain and he is now averaging 24 DK over his last two games.
  • Mawot Mag - Rutgers ($4.8K DK/5.5K FD)- Mag is back from injury and has started the last two games. He has a tough matchup and is being eased back in with 24 minutes in each game (15.5 and 26.0 DK)
  • Carter Lang - Vanderbilt ($4.1K DK/4.3K FD)- Lang has started three of the last four games but is ultra-volatile (16.5, 3.3, 4.8 and 18.0 DK points) 
  • KT Raimey - DePaul ($4.2K DK/4.5K FD)- Averaging 14 DK points a game and should play about 20 minutes.
  • Samson Johnson - Connecticut ($3.3K DK)- Johnson is news driven on the Clingan injury news.

 

DRAFTKINGS CORE

  • David Jones - Memphis
  • Desmond Claude - Xavier 
  • Jordan Longino - Villanova (Value)
  • Glenn Taylor - St. John’s (Value)

 

FANDUEL CORE

  • Kadary Richmond - Seton Hall
  • David Jones - Memphis
  • Jordan Longino - Villanova (Value)