Welcome back to another weekend of college basketball action as we dive into the top CBB DFS lineup picks for Saturday. The marquee game of the slate is a Big 10 battle pitting Zach Edey and No. 1 Purdue traveling to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to face Iowa.  Other high scoring DFS games will be Miami heading North to the Dome in Syracuse, Alabama facing No. 6 Tennessee, No. 17 Marquette in Madison Square Garden to play St. John’s and no. 9 Baylor at Texas. It's a stout 12-game slate on DraftKings while FanDuel brings us a seven-gamer. Let's dive into all the top CBB DFS picks and value plays at the guard and forward positions today. All college basketball odds below are via DraftKings Sportsbook when publishing. Good luck with your college basketball DFS lineups today!

 

College Basketball DFS Slate January 20, 2024

12p ET Penn State @ Ohio State (-10.5) 149.0 O/U

12p ET Creighton (-3.0) @ Seton Hall 140.0 O/U

12p ET Marquette @ St. John’s (-1.5) 155.5 O/U

12p ET Baylor @ Texas (-3.0) 155.0 O/U

12p ET Virginia Tech @ North Carolina State (-3.0) 146.5 O/U

12p ET Miami @ Syracuse (-1.0) 158.5 O/U

1p ET Louisville @ Wake Forest (-14.5) 151.5 O/U

1p ET Oklahoma @ Cincinnati (-3.5) 142.0 O/U

1p ET San Diego State @ Boise State (-1.0) 136.5 O/U

1p ET South Carolina @ Arkansas (-2.5) 141.5 O/U

2p ET Alabama @ Tennessee (-5.5) 157.0 O/U

2:10p ET Purdue (-7.0) @ Iowa 165.5 O/U

 

CBB DFS Guards

Dalton Knecht - Tennessee vs. Alabama ($7.9K DK/8.0K FD)

Who is the only SEC player to drop 35+ points in back-to-back games over the last 25 years? You got it- Dalton Knecht. He has totaled an astounding 103 points over his last three games with 28 against Mississippi State, 36 against Georgia, and 39 against Florida. Over that span of games, Knecht averaged just over 57 percent from the floor and just under 58 percent from three-point range. Now he gets a pace up against Alabama and even at $7.9K Dalton Knecht is still too cheap.

Meechie Johnson - South Carolina @ Arkansas ($6.9K DK)

The junior guard has been phenomenal so far this year for the Gamecocks. He’s averaging 17.3 points per game on 43.8% shooting from the field and from behind the arc, he’s shooting 36.4 percent. With a 28.9% usage/30.6% shot rate and 19.8% assist rate the ball is in Meechie’s hands a lot and he is one of the top point-per-dollar plays at the guard position today.

Other Top CBB DFS Guards (point-per-dollar)

  • Judah Mintz, Syracuse ($7.5K DK) - Mintz is close to a core play for me today in an awesome game environment against Miami at the Dome. With a 30% usage rate and 30+ DK over his last five he will smash today.
  • Braden Smith, Purdue ($7.7K DK/7.6K FD) - Nearly every one of your lineup’s should have Zach Edey or Smith as an anchor. Smith has one of the best floors on the slate as he has put up between 26 DK-33 DK points in every game since 12/29 and has tallied at least six assists in 15 of Purdue’s 18 games.
  • Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest ($7.3K DK) - Sallis is a stud that seems to fly under the radar every night, yet he puts up almost 30 DK per game.
  • Kevin Miller, Wake Forest ($7.9K DK) - Miller is a GPP-pivot from teammate Sallis. Over his last five games he leads the team with a near 30% usage rate and 32.6 DK.
  • Bruce Thornton, Ohio State ($7.6K DK) - Thornton has a 25% usage rate and is averaging nearly 30 DK over his last five games.
  • Kam Jones, Marquette ($7.0K DK/6.5K FD) - Jones’ 29% shot rate leads Marquette and he is second on the team in usage (24.4%) behind Tyler Kolek. 

 

Top CBB DFS Guard Value

Ithiel Horton - Texas vs. Baylor ($4.5K DK/5.2K FD)

Ithiel Horton moved back into the starting lineup for the Longhorns on Wednesday against Central Florida and posted season highs with 20 points and 37 minutes. Horton, a graduate transfer who had started just one game since opening the season with three straight starts, had gone scoreless in his three previous games while playing just a total of 40 minutes. So which Horton will we get today? It’s an early game against Baylor so if he gets the start again Horton is an easy value core play today. 

Other CBB DFS Guard Values

  • Hunter Cattoor, Virginia Tech ($5.7K DK) - Returned from a head injury and played 38 minutes against Virginia. Cattoor is the tams third leading scorer (13.5 PPG), so this is a solid value piece.
  • Jacobi Wright, South Carolina ($3.7K DK) - Not often do we see a player that plays 30 minutes at this price, but he only has one double-digit DK point game in his last five. It won’t take much to hit value.
  • MJ Collins, Virginia Tech ($4.2K DK) - Collins started the last three games and played 30+ minutes in each. He is capped at 15 DK. 
  • El Ellis, Arkansas ($3.8K DK) - It could be a trap, but Ellis put up 25 DK against Texas A&M on Tuesday night after sitting in the Musselman doghouse for the last month or more. GPP only. 

 

Top CBB DFS Forwards

Zach Edey - Purdue @ Iowa ($10.8K DK/9.5K FD)

Last season's consensus national player of the year is potentially on a similar track this year, averaging 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game for the nation's No. 2-ranked team. He also has 63 points and 34 rebounds in just his last two games plus put up a fifty-burger (51.5 DK) in his first meeting against Iowa. Do I need to say more? 

Dylan Disu - Texas vs. Baylor ($6.6K DK/6.4K FD)

When we last saw Dylan Disu, he was raging through the postseason, looking like an All-American. He was the Big 12 tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after leading the Longhorns to three straight wins and then smashed the NCAA Tourney dropping 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes against Colgate and following that up by pouring in 28 points, 10 boards and two steals in a win over Penn State to send Texas to the Sweet 16. Then he injured his foot and he we are. After rehabbing the first two months of the season Disu is back and through three games, he has already scored a career high 33 points in a road game against Cincinnati. He may have some foul issues but at $6.6K Dylan Disu is just too cheap and is a core play in all formats.

Other Top CBB DFS Forwards (point-per-dollar)

  • Norchad Omier, Miami ($8.5K DK) - If Omier stays out of foul trouble he will smash in this type of environment against Syracuse.  He is coming off his eight double-double (41.3 DK against Virginia Tech) and has scored in double-digits in every game but two this season. Omier is now OUT 
  • Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State ($8.4K DK) - LeDee has already put up at least 20 points on 10 occasions this season, including a pair of 30-point double-doubles.
  • Joel Soriano, St. John’s ($7.5K DK/7.9K FD) - Daniss Jenkins now carries a higher price tag than Soriano, but word is that the big man had the flu on Tuesday when playing a season low 18 minutes against Seton Hall. A vintage Soriano game is coming, and I want to be on the train.
  • Dillon Mitchell, Texas ($6.5K DK/6.9K FD) - The return of Dylan Disu has negatively impacted Mitchell, but he is coming off a 30 DK game against UCF and at this price he is in play in all formats.
  • Oso Ighodaro, Marquette ($8.1K DK/7.5K FD) - Ighodaro is averaging 17.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.3 steals across Marquette's last three games. 
  • Felix Okpara, Ohio State ($6.6K DK) - Big men against Penn State is cheat code and Okpara has played 30+ minutes in three straight. He could nuke the slate today.
  • Tyson Degenhart, Boise State ($7.4K DK) - Degenhart has at least 20 points and six rebounds in three of the last four games.
  • Jonas Aidoo, Tennessee ($7.2K DK/7.2K FD) - Aidoo has 40+ DK in three of his last four games and is in play in all formats today. 
  • Trevon Brazile, Arkansas ($6.1K DK) - This is a season low price tag on Brazile, but the talent is there and a breakout game is coming. 

 

Top CBB DFS Forward Value

Mohamed Diarra, North Carolina State ($4.5K DK)

The lanky, 6-foot-10 Frenchmen came to NC State by way of Missouri last summer and is finally showing the talent that Wolfpack fans have been expecting. He stayed out of foul trouble and played 25 minutes on Tuesday night, putting up 8 points/13 rebounds (27.3 DK) against Wake Forest. The game before that he only played 18 minutes against Louisville but still put up 25.8 DK off of a 7 point/11 rebound game. With a 47.6% combined rebound rate it appears Diarra has gained the trust of the Wolfpack staff and continues to earn minutes on the floor. The slate is starving for value and Diarra is the best that we have at forward.

Other CBB DFS Forward Values

  • Nick Pringle, Alabama ($4.3K DK/4.7K FD) - Pringle has now started three straight games for Alabama and is a 4X value if he stays out of foul trouble. 
  • Tobe Awaka, Tennessee ($4.9K DK/4.8K FD) - Awaka has been a dependable bench asset for the Vols and is averaging 17.9 DK over his last five games.

 

DRAFTKINGS CORE

Dalton Knecht - Tennessee

Felix Okpara - Ohio State

Dylan Disu - Texas

Ithiel Horton - Texas (If Starting)

 

FANDUEL CORE

Zach Edey - Purdue

Kam Jones - Marquette

Dalton Knecht - Tennessee