Daily Fantasy College Basketball Picks for DraftKings and FanDuel - 3/17/16

The real March Madness kicks off this Thursday and I for one could not be more excited. Now I know a lot of you are probably stressing over your brackets (myself included), so why not take some time off from that and play some CBB DFS? Even if your bracket gets busted (and let’s be real, that’s going to happen to most of us), you can still cash in this CBB postseason by following our top picks from each slate that the NCAA tournament has to offer. CBB can be tough to pick, especially when there are so many games with massive spreads, but we’ve done our best to look at each game and determine the players that have the most value (in our expert opinion). Now let’s get to the picks, and good luck this tournament season!

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Upper Tier

Isaiah Whitehead
FD - 10600 DK - 8800
One of my favorite high priced guys on the slate today is Isaiah Whitehead out of Seton Hall. This guy has had a great season for the Pirates, averaging 18 ppg, 5 apg, and over 2.5 blocks/steals per game on the season. He’s also been on an insanely hot scoring streak as of late, scoring over 20 points in 9 of his last 10 games. Seton Hall relies on this kid to do everything for them, which can be seen by his absurd usage rate that’s over 31%, which is one of the highest in the country. He’s got a great matchup going up against a Gonzaga team that has a tough time defending the perimeter. The O/U is high and the spread in this one is close, so I think Whitehead should get his normal run in this one, and I fully expect him to have another monster game.

Ben Bentil
FD - 10200 DK - 9800
Another Big East guy who’s had a lot of success this season is Ben Bentil, the athletic forward out of Providence. I know the Friars have Kris Dunn, but Bentil leads the team in scoring, rebounding, shots, and usage so you know he’s going to be the focal point of the offense against the Trojans. Unfortunately for USC they’ve had a really tough time defending the paint this season, and have one of the worst scoring defenses in the country. Like the previous matchup, the O/U is high and the spread is small, so I don’t have any concerns about his minutes getting buzzed (he averages less than 3 fouls per game). In my opinion Bentil is the premier forward on this slate, and I don’t see him having any trouble putting together a big game.

Georges Niang
FD - 10000 DK - 10000
Speaking of massive O/U’s have you seen the one on the Iowa State vs Iona game? As of writing, the O/U was an unheard of 167, which is essentially the equivalent to an O/U in the NBA of around 210. This game should be very high scoring, and the guy who should be able to take the biggest advantage of this is Georges Niang, the senior forward from Iowa State. Niang is having another terrific season, and gets a great matchup with an Iona team that has an undersized frontline and really struggles on the glass and to defend the paint. The spread is high, but not so high that Niang would lose any minutes if it were to hold. If this game is as high scoring as predicted, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Niang has a 20 point, 10 rebound game in this one.

Kyle Wiltjer
FD - 8500 DK - 8500
Opposite Isaiah Whitehead in the Seton Hall vs. Gonzaga matchup is Kyle Wiltjer, another guy I expect to have a big game tonight. He is Gonzaga’s undisputed go-to guy on offense, as evidenced by his team leading 15 shots per game and nearly 29% usage rate. What makes Wiltjer so difficult to guard is the fact that he’s a 6-10 guy who can really shoot the 3 (42% on nearly 6 attempts per game), and Seton Hall simply doesn’t have a guy who can defend his inside-out combination of scoring. I have a feeling Gonzaga is going to rely heavily on Wiltjer to carry the offense in a game that should be close and one of the highest scoring of the day.

Daniel Hamilton
FD - 8800 DK - 8800
Arguably the hottest college basketball player on the planet, Uconn’s Daniel Hamilton has been absolutely scorching over his last 5 games, averaging over 17 ppg, 9 rpg and 3 apg against AAC competition. He was sensational in the AAC tournament, nearly putting up a triple double in two games (one was that 4 overtime game, but still). This guy has an incredible combination of size and skill for a guard, and Colorado doesn’t have a guy on their roster who matches up well with Hamilton. The O/U isn’t ideal, butt the spread is close so a blowout is unlikely to take away any of his normal minutes. Hamilton is the focal point of the Huskies offense, and I’m expecting another stat-sheet stuffing game in this one that sees him reach value rather easily.

Middle Tier

Ricardo Gathers
FD - 6700 DK - 7300
I know that Yale has a good frontcourt from a statistical perspective, but they’ve never seen a guy like Rico Gathers out of Baylor. Gathers is a massive dude, coming in at 6’ 8”, weighing 275 lbs. For perspective, Yale doesn’t have a guy on their roster listed heavier than 240 lbs, so Gathers should be able to do whatever he wants on the interior in this one. He’s already got a sky-high rebounding % of 22% on the season, so a big game on the glass should almost be expected here. This is a game that I think will be much closer than many expect, so look for the senior Gathers to get some good minutes and some good production.

Anthony Gill
FD - 7100 DK - 7100
This is the first guy I’ve picked on this slate that is likely to lose some minutes due to a blow out, but I still think that Gill is a relatively safe pick to hit value. Even though the spread is greater than 20 points, I expect Gill to get somewhere between 22-26 minutes in this one, and Gill has multiple games on the season (against ACC competition) in which he’s exceeded x3 value in less than 25 minutes of action. I think it goes without saying that Hampton is vastly outmanned in all aspects of this game, so Gill has a great opportunity to get on the offensive glass and rack up points quickly. He’s got one of the higher offensive rebounding %’s in the country, so even though his minutes will get buzzed (barring some true March Madness) I still like Gill to put up some good numbers in this one.

Makai Mason
FD - 6800 DK - 6300
This is more of a tournament play for me because Mason relies heavily on his scoring to reach value, but he has been a reliable enough scorer on the season to deserve a mention here. The sharpshooter Mason is Yale’s primary scoring threat from the perimeter, averaging about 5 3’s per game on the season (making 38% of them). Baylor is a team that has a very strong frontcourt, but possesses a backcourt that has been exposed multiple times this year by other sharp-shooting guards. Because Baylor has such a strong interior presence, Yale should rely on Mason more on the offensive end, and if he gets hot from 3 in this one, he could easily put up a big game.

Isaiah Williams
FD - 7200 DK - 7100
As I mentioned with Niang, the Iowa State vs. Iona game has a massive O/U, so I recommend getting more exposure to this game in the form of Isaiah Williams. The senior forward is having a strong season, leading the Gaels in rebounding and is second on the team in scoring and usage. Iowa State has a tremendous offense, but they’re only average on the defensive end, so I’m a fan of the matchup here. Williams has easily hit over x3 value in his last 3 games, and with the O/U in this one being as high as it is, I wouldn’t be surprised to seem him exceed x3 value in this one.

Matt Thomas
FD - 5500 DK - 6500
Another way to get exposure to this game is Matt Thomas, the junior guard from Iowa State. I’m not exactly sure why, but Thomas has been getting insanely high minutes recently, averaging about 37 mpg over his last 10 games, while also averaging 12 ppg over that span. His biggest draw is his ability to shoot the long-ball, as he’s a 43% shooter from deep on the season. If this game truly turns into a run-and-gun style game, Thomas is a cheaper option that has some big upside. This is more of a tournament play for me because there’s a bit of risk here, but the minutes and the scoring potential just can’t be ignored.

Lower Tier

Isaac Haas
FD - 4600 DK - 4200
It's always tough recommending these lower priced guys because their minutes can be very unpredictable. Luckily for me, Isaac Haas is very predictably in line to see more minutes than usual in this one given the blowout potential (spread is at 9 as of writing). Haas is a big, strong 7-footer, who were it not for A.J. Hammond would be getting upwards of 30 minutes per game for Purdue. Assuming the Boilermakers get ahead comfortably (and I'm assuming they will) Little Rock has no one on their roster with the strength and size capable of matching up with Haas. It's unlikely that he'll put up massive numbers, but for these prices he doesn't need to do much to hit value.

Nick Zeisloft
FD - 4500 DK - 4400
This pick is contingent on Robert Johnson not playing, which would allow Zeisloft to continue seeing his 30+ minutes of action that he's become accustomed to after Johnson got hurt. If Johnson plays, don't even consider Zeisloft as an option, but if he sits, it's hard to not at least look at a guy getting this many minutes for minimum prices. He's gone over x3 value in 3 of his last 4 games, and against a weaker team like Chattanooga, Zeisloft could see increased usage if this game gets out of hand.

Chase Jeter
FD - 4600 DK - 3900
Another guy who stands to see a big bump in minutes and usage if a blowout occurs is Chase Jeter out of Duke. The freshman has been riding the pine for most of the season, but he did do some nice things when he got some increased minutes in Duke's most recent game with Notre Dame. He's much more risky than Haas and Zeisloft, but he's a differentiator tournament pick that could payoff nicely if he were to see 15-18 minutes of action off the bench against much weaker competition than he's accustomed to seeing in the ACC.

Katin Reinhardt
FD - 4900 DK - 4800
Katin Reinhardt is a shoot-first guard out of USC who has had a very inconsistent season given his scoring ability. He comes off the Trojan bench to provide a spark on the offensive end, which is evidenced by the fact that he has the second most shot attempts on the team. USC is going to need every bit of scoring it can get to hang with Providence, so I'm guessing that Reinhardt could be a big factor in this one. The O/U and spread is indicating a close, high-scoring game, so the minutes and shots should be there. Not exactly a safe pick, but if Reinhardt gets hot (especially from 3) he could really do some damage in this one.

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