RADIO
March is for madness, but April is where the champions are crowned. Two weeks ago, 68 teams had a dream. Only four still have that dream. One of them is a North Carolina State team that won five games in five days during their conference tournament to win the automatic bid. The only other team to do that was Connecticut in 2011. Does anyone remember what became of that UConn team? That's right...they cut down the nets in Houston for the school's third national championship.
The Pack are in their first Final Four since 1983 when they beat the Phi Slamma Jamma Houston team of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler in the championship. If they want to repeat that feat, they have to get around the elephant in the tournament: Purdue's 7-foot-4 Zach Edey. The "other" game only features defending national champion Connecticut against the highest-scoring team in the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Zach Edey didn't even need the ladder ?#MarchMadness @BoilerBall pic.twitter.com/YxcfmVOvxa
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 31, 2024
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy college basketball lineup picks on DraftKings on 4/6/24, starting at 6:09 p.m. EDT. I’ll provide multiple player suggestions at guard and forward, aiming to highlight one option at the salary scale's high, middle, and lower levels. Good luck, RotoBallers.
Today's DraftKings Guards - CBB DFS Lineup Picks
Aaron Estrada, Alabama ($7.4K)
Mark Sears gets the attention and has the higher ceiling, but Estrada might be the biggest reason the Tide are in their first-ever Final Four. He has averaged 12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks in the NCAA Tournament. The excellent all-around numbers give Estrada a high floor. It will be tough for Sears, and I think Connecticut will shut him down first. Estrada stepped up with 19 points against the Tar Heels when they needed him to score. I'll take the higher floor and lower upside against a team like Connecticut.
DJ Horne, North Carolina State ($6.8K)
Horne is averaging 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks in the unlikely postseason run for the Pack. In the NCAA Tournament, those averages balloon to 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.3 blocks, and 0.5 steals. He has sacrificed a little bit of points for better peripherals. He shouldn't have to do that against Purdue. Guards are still the way to get to this team. Horne's outside shooting could make the difference for the Pack.
Fletcher Loyer, Purdue ($5K)
Last round, I went with the defensive prowess of Lance Jones over Loyer. This time, I'm going with the offense of Loyer. The Pack are a guard-oriented team, but they don't play great perimeter defense. Loyer has scored in double figures in three straight games and has only been under eight points once since February 22. I want that consistent scoring in my lineups here.
Also consider: Mark Sears, Alabama ($8.4K); Braden Smith, Purdue ($7.5K); Cam Spencer, Connecticut ($7.2K); Michael O'Connell, North Carolina State ($5.5K); Lance Jones, Purdue ($4.9K); Hassan Diarra, Connecticut ($4.4K)
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Today's DraftKings Forwards - CBB DFS Lineup Picks
Zach Edey, Purdue ($11.3K)
On Sunday, Zach Edey was the first player to score 40+ points in the Elite 8 or later since...
**checks notes**
Carsen Edwards, who scored 42 points in the 2019 Elite 8.
— cobra. (@cobrastats) April 2, 2024
You can love or hate Edey. You can respect his game or hate it. I don't care. The fact is that Edey hasn't been under 45 DraftKings points since March 22 and he has topped 65 DraftKings points twice in four NCAA Tournament games. He put up 102 points combined in the other two. No one else has his floor. No one else has his ceiling. The price sucks on a two-game slate, but what can you do? In cash games, you're taking Edey without question. In GPPs, you can try to get cute, but if he goes off again, you're sunk.
This past month, Edey averaged:
- 29.1 Points
- 13.4 Rebounds
- 2.7 Assists
- 2.1 Blocks
- 0.4 StealsHe was MADE FOR MARCH (and April)? pic.twitter.com/hgpjyEcekV
— EdeyMuse (@EdeyMuse) April 4, 2024
DJ Burns Jr., North Carolina State ($6.7K)
We will find out a lot about Zach Edey in this game. Burns single-handedly slashed the draft stock of Kyle Filipowski in the Elite Eight. Never mind that posting up isn't really a thing in the NBA anymore. Filipowski was abused in every way possible.
Yall wanna see a player’s draft stock collapse? pic.twitter.com/SPhzYMnYz2
— Savage (@MSavage901) April 1, 2024
It is worth noting that Burns didn't get away with that against Marquette. Oso Ighodaro did a solid job on him. Even though Burns is now the national celebrity we never knew we needed, he still had pedestrian games against Marquette and Texas Tech. He bullied Oakland and Duke. Who is Purdue more like? I expect Burns to be somewhere in the middle like he was against North Carolina. He'll still get his points, but the rebounds will suffer with Edey out there.
Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue ($4.3K)
This is based almost solely on a gut feeling. I get the feeling that Purdue won't expose Edey to DJ Burns. They'll pull him off and make sure that Burns can't go after him one-on-one. They'll make Kaufman-Renn absorb that role. That's kind of what Purdue did against Great Osobor in the second round. Edey is a unicorn, but Burns is a dinosaur.
Both are mythical creatures from an era of basketball that no longer exists outside of college. Edey is Yao Ming. Burns is Zach Randolph. The last thing that Purdue wants is for Burns to isolate Edey and push him around. I think Kaufman-Renn sees strong minutes in this game. If he does at this price, he can't help but be a bargain.
Also consider: Donovan Clingan, Connecticut ($8.3K); Nick Pringle, Alabama ($5.9K); Ben Middlebrooks, North Carolina State ($5.1K); Jarin Stevenson, Alabama ($4K)
