We have gone from 68 down to 48 already. After tonight we will be down to 32. This is the back end of the two most chaotic days in sports. We saw Iowa go down yesterday and there promises to be more chaos today. It has already started before the games even tip! State law in Delaware forbids their players being involved in DFS, so the Blue Hens and Villanova are off the slate. We still have 15 games on this one and Delaware likely wont advance so we shouldn't have to worry about that beyond today.
We saw the bench of teams that won via blowout provide some solid value and the stars on some of the mid-major teams come up big. Playing bench roulette can be unnerving, but there were no surprises with Baylor. Tennessee was a little different story. I'm attacking the same avenue since it worked out pretty well yesterday.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy college basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 3/18/22 starting at 12:15 pm Eastern. I’ll be providing multiple player suggestions for players at guard and forward, aiming to highlight one option apiece at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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DraftKings DFS Guards - NCAA Tournament
Jaden Ivey, Purdue ($8,300)
Ivey got hot for the Boilermakers in their run to the Big Ten(14) Tournament final. He has at least 28 DraftKings points in all but one game in the last month. Yale is a spunky team that has enough talent to hang with Purdue for a while. If that happens, I like the upside of Ivey here. He's my favorite Purdue piece right now and the pricing is a little softer than yesterday. We have the room to pay up a bit.
Lucas Williamson, Loyola-Chicago ($7,700)
Williamson was around for the 2018 Final Four run as a freshman and was a key component in last year's Sweet 16 squad. Williamson has been even better this year, averaging 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists per game. He hasn't been under 20 DraftKings points in almost two months and only Evansville and Valpo held him under 25 in February. Sister Jean is still around cheering on the Ramblers to victory. We all know better than to be against Loyola now and Williamson should be the one leading the way.
Jordan Walker, UAB ($7,400)
The Blazers have scored at least 80 points in five straight games. Walker has gone above 20 in six straight. Coincidence? I think not. Walker has at least 35 DraftKings points in all of those games as well. He caught fire at the right time for the Blazers to make a run through the Conference USA Tournament. Houston is going to have their hands full trying to stop Walker. We saw yesterday that elite scorers can still score against good teams. I expect that to hold true again today.
Malachi Smith, Chattanooga ($6,000)
Smith carried the Mocs this year, averaging 20 points and nearly seven rebounds per game. He didn't slow down in the Southern Conference Tournament either. Smith hasn't been under 27 DraftKings points since February 2. That's the kind of numbers we can bank on, even against a team like Illinois. He wont put up the gaudy numbers that he did against Southern opponents, but we could see Smith at least flirt with 5x value.
Bez Mbeng, Yale ($4,000)
After a slow start to the season, the freshman came up big when it mattered most. He put up 29 points and 74.25 DraftKings points in the three games of the Ivy League Tournament. There's always risk using a mid-major player and a freshman, but a starter for minimum price who is running hot anyway isn't the worst you can do in a large-field GPP.
Also consider: Kyler Edwards, Houston ($8,000); Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona ($7,800); Taze Moore, Houston ($7,200); Mike Miles, TCU ($6,300); Azar Swain, Yale ($6,200); Tanner Holden, Wright State ($5,800); Prentiss Hubb, Notre Dame ($5,600); Trey Calvin, Wright State ($5,200); Nelly Cummings, Colgate ($4,800); Zep Jasper, Auburn ($3,500)
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DraftKings DFS Forwards - NCAA Tournament
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois ($9,100)
The Mocs only have one guy that plays good minutes that might be able to match up with Cockburn. Might. Silvio de Sousa hasn't had to tangle with anyone with the size and athleticism of Cockburn. I do think the Mocs hang around because the Illinois guard play has left something to be desired of late, but I see that as more opportunity for Cockburn to put up some massive numbers. Most Big Ten(14) teams had some kind of answer for him. Chattanooga does not.
Keon Ellis, Alabama ($7,600)
We saw Indiana have to fly back three time zones a day after winning the play-in and they get run ragged by St. Mary's. The same fate could await the Irish. Bama isn't from the west coast, but they have been out there long enough to get acclimated. Alabama is a team that likes to run anyway. They are going to run the Irish, who needed two overtimes to shed Rutgers, ragged in San Diego. My top billing goes to the most consistent piece of the Alabama team since mid-January.
E.J. Anosike, Cal State Fullerton ($6,800)
Anosike comes into the tournament as one of the hottest players on the planet. He is averaging a double-double over the last eight games and hasn't been under 30 DraftKings points since before Valentine's Day. This is a tough matchup against Duke, who actually has size inside this year. I expect the Titans to lean heavily on Anosike here. There's some risk involved, but I like the GPP upside.
Michael Jones, Davidson (5,600)
The Wildcats are going to need their shooters to come up big if they want to win this game. Brajkovic has higher upside, but Jones has been far more consistent this year and he's $1,300 less. Jones scored 30 actual points over the last two games of the A-10 Tournament. Michigan State is always a tough team come March, but this isn't your usual lockdown Sparty squad. Davidson will get their chances. That makes Jones and Sam Mennenga good GPP targets.
Aljaz Kunc, Iowa State ($4,600)
Kunc has pushed Conditt to the bench with his solid play to close out the season. He's not very involved in the offense, but Kunc is a very good rebounder and solid defender. His ceiling isn't high, but there isn't a ton of value on this slate. He's one of the value plays that wont torpedo your lineup. He's a sure 4x value while he's in the starting lineup.
Also consider: Paolo Banchero, Duke ($9,200); Jabari Smith, Auburn ($8,600); Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech ($7,900); Zach Edey, Purdue ($7,400); Luka Brajkovic, Davidson ($6,900); Marcus Bingham, Michigan State ($6,300); Coleman Hawkins, Illinois ($5,200); Charles Bediako, Alabama ($4,700)
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