Welcome back FAmily it is now February and March Madness is right around the corner. We have another evening of DFS college basketball action on tap as we dive into the top CBB DFS picks for Thursday night. Two Top-25 teams are in action as No. 6 Wisconsin travels to the Vault to face Nebraska in the Big 10 and Caleb Love and No. 11 Arizona host Jalon Tyson and California in the Pac-12.  It's a 6-game slate on DraftKings with a 7p ET lock and five games on FanDuel starting at 8:30p ET 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 Thursday February 1…

College Basketball DFS Slate February 1

7p ET Tulane @ SMU (-9.0) 157.0 O/U

8:30p ET California @ Arizona (-17.0) 158.5 O/U

8:30p ET Wisconsin (-1.0) @ Nebraska 145.0 O/U

9p ET Stanford @ Arizona State (-1.0) 149.5 O/U

10:30p ET Oregon State @ UCLA (-9.0) 127.0 O/U

10:30p ET Oregon (-2.0) @ USC 149.5 O/U

 

CBB DFS Guard Spotlight

Caleb Love- Arizona vs. California ($8.6K DK/8.0K FD)

Caleb Love has pretty much locked himself onto the Pac-12’s first all-league team and after a huge 59-point two-game weekend, Love now leads the Pac-12 in scoring during conference games with an average of 22.8. Love ranks third among Pac-12 scorers with an average of 19.3 points per game while shooting 44.9% and 34.7% from 3-point range, which shows that he is getting even better as we head towards March. In Pac-12 play Love has a 26.9% usage/30.5% shot rate and is in a big spot tonight as Arizona’s 87.0 implied total is 11 points higher than the second highest team (Oregon). I am a big Jaylon Tyson (California) fan, but I will take the $600 discount on Love tonight.

Kobe Johnson- USC vs. Oregon ($6.8K DK/6.4K FD)

Kobe Johnson has turned into a dominant guard for the Trojans. In the 2023–24 season, he’s averaging impressive stats with 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game, and a shooting percentage of 39.4%.  Johnson’s growth in his third season with USC has been meteoric, now standing as a leading figure in the team. He has a 22% usage/23.9% shot rate to go along with a 21.7 assist, 3.2 block and 3.7% steal rate and is getting better as the season turns into February. A projected second-round NBA pick, Johnson has the highest DK average on the team over the last five games (27.5) and at a price of $6.8K is my top mid-range play tonight. 

Note: Johnson is listed at Forward on FanDuel

Other Top CBB DFS Guards (Top Point Per Dollar Plays)

  • Jaylon Tyson, California ($9.2K DK/8.6K FD)
  • Zhuric Phelps, SMU ($7.3K DK)
  • Lazar Stefanovic, UCLA ($7.1K DK/6.0K FD)
  • AJ Storr, Wisconsin ($6.7K DK/5.6K FD)
  • Jose Perez, Arizona State ($6.2K DK/5.8K FD)

CBB DFS Value Guard Spotlight

Kylan Boswell- Arizona vs. California ($5.1K DK/5.0K FD)

Kylan Boswell, the Arizona point guard sets the tone on every possession, and when AU loses it usually gets bad for the second-year player. Boswell has averaged just 4.6 points and shot only 20.5% from the field in UA’s five losses, and he was scoreless with a combined 0-for-8 shooting in Arizona’s most recent two losses, at Washington State and at Oregon State. But he had a big bounce back game on Saturday at Oregon with 14 points (5-12 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 2-2 FT), two rebounds, three assists and two steals in 33 minutes (25.5 DK). In a home game where Arizona is favored by 16.5 points this is another game that should keep Boswell’s confidence rising and at $5.1K he is a steal in all formats.

Other Top CBB DFS Value Guards

  • KJ Lewis, Arizona ($4.6K DK/4.1K FD)
  • Jamarques Lawrence, Nebraska ($4.8K DK/3.6K FD)
  • Brandon Williams G/F, UCLA ($3.3K DK/3.3K FD)
  • Will McClendon, UCLA ($4.2K DK/3.6K FD)

CBB DFS Forward Spotlight

Fardaws Aimaq, California ($8.5K DK/8.5K FD)

Fardaws Aimaq, 6-foot-11 forward -- who is currently sixth in the nation in rebounding (10.7 rebounds per game) and third in double-doubles (12) – is having a monster season on a struggling team. He is in the Top-100 in the country with a 12.2% offensive and 26.0% defensive rebound rate plus has a 26.3% usage/24.9% shot rate. Through nine Pac-12 conference games he is averaging 13.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 31.0 minutes per game and is now on a streak with three straight double-doubles and 45+ DK in three of his last four games. 

Keshad Johnson- Arizona ($6.7K DK/6.2K FD)

Following a run to the championship game of the NCAA Tournament as a senior with San Diego State, Keshad Johnson transferred to Arizona for his fifth college season. He may not be a primary scorer but when he does need to score, Johnson is solid on the offensive glass and generates points in the paint. Plus, Since becoming a member of the Wildcats, shooting has clearly been a focal point of improvement for him, and his overall efficiency of 55.4% shooting remains an excellent mark. Just this morning Johnson was named to the Top-10 list for the Karl Malone Award which recognizes the top power forward in the nation. He is s averaging career highs in points (11.8), rebounds (6.3), assists (1.8), field goal percentage (.554), 3-point field goal percentage (.373) during his first season in Tucson. He also had a career-high with 24 points against Zach Edey and Purdue. Not too shabby,

Other Top CBB DFS Forwards (Top Point Per Dollar Plays)

  • Kevin Cross, Tulane ($9.0K DK)
  • N’Faly Dante, Oregon ($8.0K DK/8.2K FD)
  • Oumar Ballo, Arizona ($7.2K DK/6.8K FD)
  • Spencer Jones, Stanford ($6.5K DK/5.5K FD)

CBB DFS Value Forward Spotlight

Joshua Morgan- USC vs. Oregon ($5.0K DK/4.7K FD)

Joshua Morgan is a specialist. A shot blocking specialist. His 11.3% block rate is 11th in the entire nation, and it appears he is finally healthy after battling a long virus. The senior played 31 minutes against UCLA on Tuesday and put up 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks for 26.3 DK. The bright spot is the plus 30 minutes played so we can expect the same tonight if he can stay out of foul trouble (5.3 FC/40). Tonight’s matchup against N’Faly Dante will not be easy but at this price he could easily eclipse 4X value.

Other Top CBB DFS Value Forwards

  • Tyreek Smith, SMU ($5.7K DK)
  • Alonzo Gaffney, Arizona State ($5.1K DK/4.2K FD)
  • Vincent Iwuchukwu, USC ($5.5K DK/4.5K FD)
  • Josiah Afflick, Nebraska ($5.2K DK/4.1K FD)
  • Keon Ambrose-Hylton, SMU ($5.4K DK)
  • Brandon Williams G/F, UCLA ($3.3K DK/3.3K FD)

DRAFTKINGS CORE

Caleb Love- Arizona

Kobe Johnson- USC

Keshad Johnson- Arizona

FANDUEL CORE

Caleb Love- Arizona

Kobe Johnson- USC

AJ Storr- Wisconsin