Welcome back to the start of another weekend of college basketball action as we dive into the top CBB DFS picks for Friday night. We head west tonight as Two Top-25 teams are in action - Caleb Love and No. 4 Arizona travel to Berkeley, CA to play Cal, and Aanton Watson and No. 13 Gonzaga play host to San Diego State. The attention turns to the Pac-12 this Friday night with Washington State at Utah, Washington traveling to Colorado, and Arizona State visiting Stanford. 

It's a 5-game slate on DraftKings and 3-games on FanDuel with an 8:30p ET lock so 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 for Friday, December 29th.

College Basketball DFS Slate December 29, 2023

8:30p ET Washington State @ Utah (-8.0) 144 O/U
9p ET San Diego State @ Gonzaga (-7.0) 148.0 O/U
9p ET Washington @ Colorado (-9.0) 155.5 O/U
10:30p ET Arizona (-13.5) @ California 156.5 O/U
11p ET Arizona State @ Stanford (-5.5) 147.0 O/U

Top CBB DFS Guards

KJ Simpson - Colorado vs. Washington ($8.8K DK/8.3K FD)

A junior guard, KJ Simpson leads the Buffaloes in scoring (19.9 PPG) and is shooting 57.7% from the field and an impressive 48.9% from three-point range. The Buffaloes are one of only 11 programs in the country shooting over 40.0 pct. from beyond the arc. Simpson has turned into one of the best guards in the nation and the No. 10 ranked player in the KenPom Player of the Year rankings with a 25% usage/27.2% shot rate to go along with 28.4% assist and 4.0% steal- all nationally ranked numbers. Caleb Love is a close 1A tonight but with three straight 40= DK games, KJ Simpson is the top overall guard on the slate.

Sahvir Wheeler - Washington @ Colorado ($7.6K DK/7.9K FD)

Sahvir Wheeler, a senior guard who spent two seasons with Georgia Bulldogs prior to his two seasons with Kentucky, has made an immediate impact in Seattle for the Husky’s. He is Washington's second-highest scorer, averaging 15.6 points per game and leads the team in assists with 7.1 per game (36.8% which is good for 17th in the nation). Additionally, Wheeler is shooting 44.3% from the field and leads the team with a 28.1% usage rate (25.0% shot). With a $300 price drop off a mediocre game against Eastern Washington take the discount tonight.

Keonte Kennedy - California vs. Arizona ($6.9K DK)

Keonte Kennedy has a tough matchup tonight against one of the best teams in the nation but how can we even look past what the transfer has done in the four games since his return from injury? In those four games, he has 51 real points and is averaging 33.2 DK points per game and at only $6.9K he makes for one nice value. The former UTEP and Memphis shooting guard has not gone below 29 DK yet this season and tonight gets a pace-up game with the Wildcats.

Other Top CBB DFS Guards

  • Caleb Love, Arizona ($8.5K DK)
  • Rollie Worster, Utah ($7.3K DK/7.5K FD)
  • Frankie Collins, Arizona ($7.0K DK)
  • Ryan Nembhard, Gonzaga ($6.7K DK/7.0K FD)
  • Pelle Larsson, Arizona ($6.4K DK)
  • Kylan Boswell, Arizona ($6.1K DK)

Top CBB DFS Value Guard

Julian Hammond III - Colorado vs. Washington ($4.7K DK/4.9K FD)

Junior guard Julian Hammond III made his first and only start of the year during Colorado's best win of the season: a dominant, 90-63 victory over then-No. 15 Miami three weeks ago. 

The rare start showed that Hammond III, who is averaging 9.7 points on 45.9% shooting from deep, is more than capable of playing a season-high 31 minutes (he averages 23.1) like he did against the Hurricanes, but his value off the bench is immeasurable. With a 17.4 DK average over his last five games and an 83.25 team total tonight as a favorite over Washington Julian Hammond is a sneaky low-owned GPP flyer.

Other Top CBB DFS Value Guards

  • Jared Bynum, Stanford ($5.9K DK) Cash/GPP
  • Reese Waters, San Diego State ($5.7K DK/6.1K FD) GPP
  • Luke O’Brien, Colorado ($5.3K DK) Cash/GPP
  • Adam Miller, Arizona State ($4.9K DK) Cash/GPP- Miller will be a popular cash value tonight in his third game back.
  • Kymany Houinsou, Washington State ($4.6K DK/4.8K FD) Cash/GPP

Top CBB DFS Forwards

Anton Watson - Gonzaga vs. San Diego State ($7.8K DK/7.8K FD)

Gonzaga’s Anton Watson has gone from a sub-20 minute per game role player to the leading scorer on a top-15 team in the country this season. He is currently averaging 14.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 57.3% on two-pointers and 42.9% from beyond the arc. His 32-point outburst against UCLA in the Maui Invitational (48 DK) really turned heads and he comes into tonight’s game averaging nearly 32 DK over his last five games. Watson is among the best on-ball defensive players in the country, with incredibly active hands and athleticism which has resulted in 179 career steals – second in Gonzaga basketball history only behind Hall of Fame guard John Stockton.

Maxime Raynaud - Stanford vs. Arizona State ($7.3K DK)

Maxime Raynaud should have a field tonight against an Arizona State frontcourt that struggles on the offensive glass and is not much better on the defensive end. The 7-footer from France has the versatility inside and an ability to score both inside and out as well as control the glass makes him such a major piece to the Stanford squad. His 26.4% usage/26.6% shot rate leads the team but more impressive is a 25.3% defensive rebound rate which is good enough for 49th in the entire nation. Arizona State on the other hand has a team offensive rebound rate of only 20.9%, one of the worst in the country (352nd). Add those up and Maxime Reynaud could very well have his fourth double-double incoming.

Eddie Lampkin Jr - Colorado vs. Washington ($6.2K DK/6.0K FD)

Yes, Colorado made waves this off-season after picking up a top-ten recruit like Cody Williams and returning their two players in Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson. When it is all said and done the most important addition to the Buffs may be the transfer portal pick up Eddie Lampkin Jr., a senior center from TCU. Lampkin Jr. has largely flown under the radar but his 33.7% combined rebound rate is making noise along with what he has done over the last two games. 

Against Northern Colorado he had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds (32.0 DK) in only 24 minutes of play and against Utah Tech he scored 16 points and pulled down nine boards in 23 minutes (29.8 DK). He is still a very volatile player but at this price, Lampkin Jr can be considered in all formats.

Other Top CBB DFS Forwards

  • Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State ($8.3K DK/8.6K FD)
  • Branden Carlson, Utah ($7.9K DK/7.6K FD)
  • Oumar Ballo, Arizona ($8.2K DK)
  • Isaac Jones, Washington State ($7.7K DK/7.4K FD)
  • Keshad Johnson, Arizona ($7.2K DK)
  • Keion Brooks Jr, Washington ($7.8K DK/8.2K FD)
  • Brandon Angel, Stanford ($6.0K DK)
  • Spencer Jones, Arizona State ($6.3K DK)- Check status on Discord but if he plays Jones is a top GPP play on the slate.

Top CBB DFS Value Forward

Rueben Chinyelu - Washington State @ Utah ($4.8K DK/4.7K FD)

Unlike years past, WSU has considerable size and physicality in the post. As good as Mouhamed Gueye and Efe Abogidi were, they weren't going to bang bodies. But that is the name of the game for first-year Cougar post-player Rueben Chinyelu. 

He has only started a few games this season, but Chinyelu gets it done when he is on the floor, and he has awesome rebounding rates to go along with rim protection.  Besides a tough one against Portland State, the big guy has put up 20+ DK in four of his last seven and get this – he has a 46.4% combined rebound rate on the season. Value is severely lacking at forward again tonight, but I will not be afraid to take a shot at Reuben Chinyelu tonight.

Other Top CBB DFS Value Forwards

  • Lawson Lovering, Utah ($5.8K DK/6.2K FD)- Lovering has back-to-back 36 DK point games but is more likely to give us the 15-20 DK that he has for most of the season. 
  • Ben Gregg, Gonzaga ($5.2K DK/5.2K FD) GPP
  • Bryant Selebangue, Arizona State ($5.0K DK) GPP
  • Alonzo Gaffney, Arizona State ($5.0K DK) GPP
  • Max Murrell, Stanford ($4.0K DK GPP) GPP

DRAFTKINGS CORE

  • KJ Simpson- Colorado
  • Maxime Raynaud- Stanford
  • Adam Miller- Arizona State

FANDUEL CORE

  • KJ Simpson, Colorado
  • Sahvir Wheeler, Washington
  • Lawson Lovering, Utah