I like that DraftKings offers up two big slates for college basketball in the middle of the week instead of trying to cram them all into one. We get 16 games tonight with eight games on each of the slates. It's conference season, so we get some really good matchups. We have our normal start time tonight and don't have to mess with anything like the Tennessee/Florida scheduling issue yesterday.
We have six games that start us off. The biggest being Creighton in Storrs to take on UConn. Mississippi State heads to Rupp to take on Kentucky. Ole Miss heads to Red Stick to take on LSU. Pesky Nebraska is in Jersey to take on Rutgers. We have the Seminole Cup basketball version from Tallahassee. Virginia Tech heads to Charlottesville to take on Virginia. We end this slate with West Virginia in Norman to take on the Sooners and Central Florida in Austin to take on a struggling Texas squad.
In this article, I will provide you with my daily fantasy college basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 1/17/24, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. I’ll provide multiple player suggestions at guard and forward, aiming to highlight one option at the high, middle, and lower levels of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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Today's DraftKings Guards - CBB DFS Lineup Picks
Matthew Cleveland, Miami (FL) ($8,000)
It's revenge time for Cleveland. He shined for an injury-riddled Florida State team last season, then pulled a LeBron and took his talents to South Beach. Despite playing for a loaded Miami guard corps, Cleveland is still averaging 16.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He does this by getting good shots and hitting around half of them. We have also seen Cleveland pull down double-digit rebounds three times while getting nine twice more. The potential is always there for Cleveland, and I think he shows his former coach (and fans) what they're missing by not having him this year.
Sean Pedulla, Virginia Tech ($7,700)
The Hokies are scoring more points of late and it's all Pedulla's fault. Over the last three games, Pedulla has 91 points, 16 rebounds, 13 assists, and five steals. That's nearly double his season scoring average and well above his rebounding totals on the season. Keep in mind that these were against good teams in Miami, Clemson, and Florida State. Virginia is the worst team that the Hokies have faced since before Christmas. Pedulla's rampage through January should continue for at least one more game.
Shakeel Moore, Mississippi State ($5,200)
All five of Moore's double-figure scoring games have come in the last seven contests. He has at least one steal in six of those seven games and has been solid on the boards as well. Moore's main strength is scoring, and he is starting to get more shots in the offense since he is hitting them. Moore doesn't have a lot of upside, but he is a solid value pick due to his recent uptick in scoring.
Sam Hoiberg, Nebraska ($4,400)
Hoiberg has played at least 20 minutes in every January game. His strong defense and good passing are a big reason for that. Hoiberg still isn't a big part of the offense even on the second team, but he's a good rebounder, especially considering he is only six feet tall. If he ever starts hitting more shots, Hoiberg could make some real noise. Right now, he has been a solid value play over the three weeks or so. Hoiberg has at least 17 DraftKings points in four of the last five games.
Also consider: Baylor Scheierman, Creighton ($8,900); Matthew Murrell, Mississippi ($7,900); Jordan Wright, LSU ($7,600); Jaylen Murray, Mississippi ($7,200); Shemarri Allen, Central Florida ($5,900); Steven Ashworth, Creighton ($5,300); Trae Hannibal, LSU ($4,900); C.J. Wilcher, Nebraska ($4,200); Kobe Johnson, West Virginia ($3,600)
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Today's DraftKings Forwards - CBB DFS Lineup Picks
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton ($8,300)
With Donovan Clingan possibly returning tonight, I'm ready to pivot off of this if I need to. Clingan likely won't play a ton of minutes, but even 18-20 minutes of Clingan can keep Kalkbrenner's rebound total down. Kalkbrenner has at least 18 points and nine rebounds in each of the last three games. He is playing at a high level right now, and Creighton is going to need him to have a big game if they have any chance of winning this game.
Dylan Disu, Texas ($7,100)
Disu has only started the last two games after coming off the bench for his first four games of the season. His foot is fine now. In his two starts, Disu has 51 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and six steals. He put up monster numbers in two road games. Now the home crowd gets to see Disu start for the first time this year. It's going to be nuts in Austin, and Disu should feed off of that for another huge performance.
D.J. Jeffries, Mississippi State ($5,700)
Strangely enough, the return of Tolu Smith has made Jeffries better. He's still not much of a scorer, but with Smith drawing the tougher defensive task, Jeffries has been even better on that end of the court. He has nine steals in four games with Smuth back to go with 10 assists and 18 rebounds. The steals and assists (not to mention the five blocks) are well above his season averages and more than makes up for the slightly fewer offensive opportunities.
C.J. Walker, Central Florida ($4,400)
This is a tough matchup against Texas, but Walker has played 58 minutes over the last two games after moving into the starting lineup. In those 58 minutes, Walker has 16 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, a steal, and an assist. He's not a big producer anywhere besides on the boards, but a starter at this price makes for a low-risk value play.
Also consider: Alex Karaban, Connecticut ($7,700); Rienk Mast, Nebraska ($7,600); Tolu Smith, Mississippi State ($7,200); Ibrahima Diallo, Central Florida ($6,700); Will Baker, LSU ($6,100); Josiah Allick, Nebraska ($5,000); Moussa Cisse, Mississippi ($4,500); Robbie Beran, Virginia Tech ($4,200)