College Football CFB DFS Playbook for Tuesday, December 26 Bowls: Top DraftKings and FanDuel Picks
Happy holidays, college football fans! After a brief break from the college football bowl schedule, we're back on the CFB DFS grind for Tuesday, December 26th with three games on tap. Both the DraftKings and FanDuel slates kick off at 2 pm ET with Bowling Green vs Minnesota in the Quick Lane Bowl. We also have Texas State vs Rice in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl at 5:30 pm ET and then Kansas vs UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl at 9 pm ET. Let's dive right into the top CFB DFS picks and value plays for college football daily fantasy lineups today. All odds are via DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of this publishing.
College Football Schedule for
Tuesday, December 26
CFB DFS Saturday Main Slate
- 2 pm ET – Bowling Green vs Minnesota (-3) – 39.5 O/U (Detroit, MI)
- 5:30 pm ET – Texas State (-3.5) vs Rice – 60 O/U (Dallas, TX)
- 9 pm ET – Kansas (-13) vs UNLV – 67.5 O/U (Phoenix, AZ)
College Football CFB DFS Picks for December 26 Bowls
Top CFB DFS Quarterbacks
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Jason Bean | KU | UNLV | 8900 | 17.48 | 11500 | 17.04 |
| We likely won’t see Jalon Daniels in this bowl, so it’s Jason Bean one more time for Kansas. Bean is pretty expensive, but he’s also the QB for the offense projected to score the most on this small slate and in a high-total game too. He has shown the upside for 35+ DK a couple of times this season. It’s possible we get another ceiling game against a poor UNLV defense that struggled vs both the pass and run this season. It's either him or Finley as your pay-up QB. | ||||||
| TJ Finley | TXST | RICE | 8000 | 21.89 | 10200 | 18.97 |
| TJ Finley is expected to play in this bowl as he likely wraps up his college career. The Texas St QB put together a very solid season with 3,000+ passing yards, a 24:8 TD:INT ratio, and 5 rush TDs added in. He came on strong late in the year with 39, 29, and 27 DK in three of his last four games. The higher-total matchup vs Rice should result in a ton of passing stats for Finley as an upside GPP or cash play if you are fading Jason Bean. | ||||||
| Jayden Maiava | UNLV | KU | 7200 | 15.94 | 9000 | 16.27 |
| There were rumors that Jayden Maiava would enter the transfer portal, but he just announced he’s returning to UNLV next season. Now we can safely roster him on this bowl slate with the Rebels playing in the highest total of the day. Maiava had 21+ DK in four of his last eight games and provides a decent cash floor of 15-20 DK on a regular basis. The matchup vs Kansas shouldn’t scare us off much here and Maiava should be a popular Super-Flex. | ||||||
| AJ Padgett | RICE | TXST | 6500 | 16.94 | 9500 | 16.68 |
| With JT Daniels medically retiring from football, AJ Padgett should continue as Rice’s QB for this bowl game. Padgett took over as the starter for the final three games of the season and put up 23, 22, and 12 DK in those starts. The Texas St pass defense was 120th in yards allowed per game this year, so the matchup is a very attractive one. For his price in a higher-scoring game, Padgett should be a popular Super-Flex in cash. | ||||||
Top CFB DFS Running Backs
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Devin Neal | KU | UNLV | 7900 | 23.36 | 11400 | 20.86 |
| Devin Neal was a stud for Kansas this season with 1,209 rushing yards and 16 TDs. He had 20+ DK in five straight games to end the year and is a strong candidate to do it again in this high-scoring bowl matchup. UNLV ranked 90th against the run in the FBS this season and gave up 22 rush TDs over 13 games. Neal is the clear top RB on the slate. Also look at backup Daniel Hishaw for GPP value upside – especially in the potential scenario that Neal sits for part of the game with his NFL future in mind. | ||||||
| Ismail Mahdi | TXST | RICE | 6200 | 19.55 | 9400 | 17.88 |
| Since he took over as Texas State’s true lead back in Week 4, Ismail Mahdi has at least 19 DK in six of his last nine games. He’s seeing about 20 touches per game despite Texas St throwing it a ton too. The Bobcats should score enough in this high-total matchup for Mahdi to produce while the passing game does as well. On a slate devoid of top RBs, Mahdi is a top-tier play in cash or GPP. | ||||||
| Dean Connors | RICE | TXST | 5500 | 17.1 | 8600 | 14.85 |
| Rice rolled with a split backfield this season in a pass-centric offense. Even so, Dean Connors is a viable value play on this slate. Later in the year, he was more productive than Juma Otoviano from a DFS perspective. In the last two games, Connors had 19 carries for 184 yards and then 14 carries for 75 yards. He’s also a solid pass-catching back with 42 catches for 395 yards and 3 receiving TDs on the season. The PPR value can help him exceed this mid-5k DK price. | ||||||
| Jordan Nubin | MINN | BGSU | 4800 | 13.87 | 8000 | 12.87 |
| Check on Darius Taylor’s status for this bowl game. Taylor hasn’t played since Week 8 and it’s very unclear whether he’ll play or not, despite announcing he’ll return to Minnesota next year. With Taylor out, Jordan Nubin has been Minnesota’s lead RB. He’s seen 40, 19, 16, 19, and 24 carries in the past five games as the lead guy in an offense that gives a ton of touches to the running backs. With the team now rolling with an inexperienced QB for this bowl, Nubin should see a strong floor of carries to return value if he is the top RB and Taylor is out again. | ||||||
| Jaison Patterson | BGSU | MINN | 3000 | 2.17 | 5400 | 1.91 |
| Bowling Green lead RB Terion Stewart is a game-time decision for this bowl. If he’s out, then Jaison Patterson could end up being the top back. Paterson only saw 34 carries for 123 yards this season in his backup role. It’s impossible to expect much from him, but he’s still worth a GPP dart at the DK min price if we get word that he’s the starter and Stewart is out. | ||||||
Top CFB DFS Wide Receivers
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Luke McCaffrey | RICE | TXST | 8000 | 21.45 | 9700 | 18.40 |
| More often than not this season, Luke McCaffrey was producing at a high level as Rice’s top wideout. He had 963 yards and 12 TDs on the year with multiple big-time stat lines. McCaffrey finished the season strong even with AJ Padgett under center in place of JT Daniels. Her had 19, 20, and 38 DK in the three games with Padgett throwing to him as his role as Rice’s best pass-catcher didn’t go away. He’s expensive, but you’re paying for the strong cash floor here. | ||||||
| Ricky White | UNLV | KU | 7200 | 21.88 | 9800 | 18.42 |
| Ricky White was a beast for UNLV this season with 1,394 receiving yards, 81 catches, and 7 TDs. He will return to UNLV next season and forgo the NFL Draft, so those are good vibes for him to be motivated in this bowl to post another big stat line. White is the clear top target for Jayden Maiava and offers a strong cash floor of receptions, yards, and overall DFS production. He’s a tad expensive but has been worth it a lot this year. | ||||||
| Joey Hobert | TXST | RICE | 6500 | 21.86 | 9500 | 17.98 |
| Keep an eye on Joey Hobert’s status for this bowl game. Texas State’s stud wideout missed the regular season finale but he may return this week. Hobert has 30+ DK in four of his last six games as the top target for TJ Finley in Texas State’s passing game. He’s a strong candidate to post 100+ yards, a TD, and 25-30 DFS points in this higher-total matchup. At his slightly cheaper price, Hobert could outproduce McCaffrey and White to prove to be a better play. | ||||||
| Daniel Jackson | MINN | BGSU | 5600 | 18.06 | 8700 | 14.28 |
| We mostly want to stay away from this Minnesota offense, but Daniel Jackson is a decent value to consider for a one-off. The Gophers offense doesn’t pass much and they’re not starting a backup QB for this bowl. When they do pass, though, Jackson is the top target. His 57 catches, 831 yards, and 8 TDs all led the team by a decent margin this season as he had 20+ DK in six of 11 games with double-digit DK in all but two contests. | ||||||
| Kole Wilson | TXST | RICE | 5300 | 15.58 | 8200 | 12.77 |
| While Joey Hobert is the headliner in Texas State’s passing game, we have two cheaper ways to get exposure to this offense. Both Kole Wilson and Ashtyn Hawkins have the upside for 20-30 DK points and both ended the season strong. If Hobert sits out, then both get a big boost up. If he does play, these guys are still GPP upside options. Wilson has the more consistent production recently and is viable in cash as well. | ||||||
| Jacob De Jesus | UNLV | KU | 4500 | 8.98 | 5500 | 6.56 |
| If you want some cheap exposure to the highest total of the slate, Jacob De Jesus is worth a shot in cash or GPP lineups. Ricky White is the obvious headliner in the UNLV receiving corps, but De Jesus is the clear second guy. He had 52 catches for 511 yards this season as the No. 2 option for Jayden Maiava. With a ton of offense expected in this bowl, De Jesus could return value on his sub-5k DK price. | ||||||
| Mason Fairchild | KU | UNLV | 4400 | 8.52 | 6600 | 7.27 |
| The Kansas passing game spreads the ball around and it’s tough to pinpoint one pass-catcher for DFS lineups. It puts them in GPP territory but all are in play because of the high-scoring matchup here. Considering the DK prices, Mason Fairchild might be the best per-dollar dart throw to score a TD and exceed value. Lawrence Arnold has the safest cash floor if you want to pay up a bit more. | ||||||
| Boden Groen | RICE | TXST | 4200 | 7.72 | 5700 | 6.31 |
| Rice’s backup tight end had 2 TDs in the regular season finale with starter Jack Bradley out. With Bradley expected out for this bowl. Boden Groen presents a ton of value to continue his production. He developed a late-season connection with Rice QB AJ Padgett and that can carry over into this bowl. You have to take chances on this small slate, and Groen is an upside play to smash value. | ||||||
CFB DFS Core Plays
DraftKings Cash
- AJ Padgett – Rice
- Devin Neal – Kansas
- Ricky White – UNLV
DraftKings GPP
- TJ Finley – Texas State
- Jordan Nubin – Minnesota
- Boden Groen – Rice
FanDuel Cash
- Devin Neal – Kansas
- Ricky White – UNLV
- Jayden Maiava – UNLV
FanDuel GPP
- Jason Bean – Kansas
- Luke McCaffrey – Rice
- Ismail Mahdi – Texas State
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