This Saturday slate is insane. College hoops junkies are treated to a bevy of great games on Saturday. The DraftKings main slate is eight games and FanDuel is only five but all of those games are also in DK’s. For DraftKings the party gets started early with Butler and Indiana in the Crossroads Classic at 11:30 AM. After that instate rivalry, we are treated with potentially the best matchup of the college basketball regular season schedule as #1 Gonzaga takes on #3 Iowa in Sioux Falls, the game is on CBS at 12pm. The game has a O/U of 171.5 so definitely get some Bulldogs and Hawkeyes in your lineup. At 12:30 we have a top-25 battle between the ACC and Big 10 as #23 Louisville travels to #12 Wisconsin on ESPN2. Which typically is built as a marquee matchup #22 UNC travels to Rupp Arena to face a Kentucky team that is off to a horrendous 1-4 start. That game is on at 2pm on CBS apart of a triple header with the Gonzaga/Iowa and UCLA/Ohio St. In a game that was left off the FanDuel slate, Western Kentucky squares off against Alabama (2pm SEC Network+) in a game that is expected to be a track meet. At 2:30 we have a fun matchup between Ole Miss and Dayton. The FanDuel slate wraps up with the Notre Dame at Purdue game which tips at 2:30 and is on ESPN2. The DraftKings slate ends at 4:15 with the UCLA playing #20 Ohio State in Cleveland (CBS).
Two Saturdays ago, we were robbed of a great game between #1 Gonzaga and #2 Baylor due to COVID. Well the wait is totally worth it as we have a hell of a slate of hoops today. On top of all that we also have college football conference tournaments, so it is a day to sit on your couch and try and make some dough!
Main Slate by O/U
- #1 Gonzaga vs #3 Iowa- 170.5
- Western Kentucky vs Alabama- 153 (DK only)
- #22 UNC vs Kentucky- 141.5
- Purdue vs Notre Dame- 140
- UCLA vs Ohio St- 135.5 (DK only)
- Indiana vs Butler- 133.5 (DK only)
- #23 Louisville vs #12 Wisconsin- 132
- Ole Miss vs Dayton- 132
| Top Guards | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Carlik Jones | UL | WISC | 8800 | 35.38 | 7000 | 46.22 | |
| Carlik Jones was a highly coveted transfer from Radford and we can certainly see why. Jones is leading the Cards in ppg (17.3) and apg (5.3), he is also second in the team in rebounding at 7 rpg. Jones is a stat stuffer and look for him to continue to do so against the Badgers. He really is really great value on FD, with only a $7000 price tag. | |||||||
| Ibi Watson | DAY | MISS | 7800 | 30.81 | 6800 | 27.70 | |
| After two seasons of barely getting playing time at Michigan, Watson transferred to Dayton. Now in his second season with the Flyers he's their leading scorer at 19.8 ppg. He is shooting 43.5% from three and that is on close to 6 attempts a game. A good paydown option is his teammate Jalen Crutcher ($7200 DK, $6700 FD), who scores or assists on 41% of Dayton's points. | |||||||
| Jalen Suggs | GONZ | IOWA | 7200 | 34.17 | 7100 | 32.77 | |
| Jalen Suggs suffered a scary injury in their win over Kansas and while he played 26 minutes against WVU he clearly struggled, The good news is the team hasn't played a game in 17 days so he should be ready to rock in this showdown. The terriic freshman is averaging 13.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 6.3 apg. He is a guy who really stuffs the stat sheet and Iowa doesnt have the most athletic guards. | |||||||
| Jair Bolden | BUTLER | IU | 7100 | 29.25 | |||
| I can't believe I'm doing this to myself and you readers but I'm putting in Brandon Boston Jr as a value play. Kentucky has been terrible but with all the talented freshman I figure they have to get it together, With UK's stuggles you are getting a player that should be a $7k+ player all season but now sits at $6600 for DK but FD isnt giving up on him yet either as he is $7200. Once again Terrance Clarke serves as a nice paydown option ($6100DK, $5900 FD) but I like Boston more due to his rebounding prowess from the guard spot. | |||||||
| Jordan Bohannon | IOWA | GONZ | 5800 | 20.83 | 5800 | 18.42 | |
| Jordan Bohannon has struggled with a hip injury throughout his career at Iowa. The hip allowed him to get a medical redshirt for his fifth season of college hoops. He is only 7.3 ppg but chips in 2.5 rpg and 5.2 apg. When healthy he seems to step up on the big stage for the Hawkeyes and none bigger so far this season than this Iowa-Gonzaga game. Think he could be a great value play in a cash game. | |||||||
| Andrew Nembhard | GONZ | IOWA | 5600 | 20.58 | 6500 | 19.13 | |
| You probably wont see many sixth men in my writeups but UF transfer Andrew Nembhard is the exception to the rule. Even though he comes off the bench he's averaged 30.3 mpg and has put up really solid numbers for the Zags. He is averaging 11.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 4 apg. I will admit I don't love the pricetag for FD but definitely a value play in DK. | |||||||
| Top Forwards | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Luka Garza | IOWA | GONZ | 10000 | 49.08 | 9000 | 46.22 | |
| Listen obviously the price is outrageous but I've said this before, you get what you pay for, Luka Garza is basically a cheat code in this college basketball season.The senior big man is averaging 29.2 ppg, 9 rpgg while shooting 69% (nice!) from the floor and 68% from three. It is worth mentioning against UNC, who has formidable bigs, he struggled a bit yet still finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. His floor is higher than most players' ceilings, so while you may have to go bargain hunting to help fill out your lineup Garza will give you a ton of points. If you are struggling to field a good lineup with Garza eating at your budget go for Joe Weiskamp ($6400) but you wont get nearly the production. | |||||||
| Charles Bassey | WKU | ALA | 9200 | 40.75 | |||
| When Charles Bassey chose WKU for college it came to a surprise by many has he was a very highly touted recruit. Injuries have plagued Bassey's career but now a junior he is healthy and producing. He is averaging 16.4 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 2.4 blocks per contest. Alabama is going to try and make it a track meet and while Bassey is really your traditional big man I have no doubts Rick Stansbury will look to get his big man involved a lot. I've seen Alabama play, as they played my Friars, and they have no one down low that can stop bigs. Friars center Nate Watson scored 17 points but foul trouble prevented a massive night, as he was 6-8 from the floor and played only 19 minutes. So look for Bassey to feast against the Tide. Note this game is not apart of FD main slate. | |||||||
| Trayce Jackson-Davis | IU | BUTLE | 8500 | 37.58 | |||
| Luka Garza isn't the only dominant forward in the Big 10. Trayce Jackson-Davis of IU is averaging 21 ppg, and 8.7 rpg. He has a very nice matchup against a Butler Bulldogs team that doesn't possess a ton of size. Bryce Nze (6-7) and Bryce Golden (6-9) are really the two bigs that get a ton of time for Butler. If you need a pay down option, because maybe you have Garza, look at TJD's teammate Race Thompson ($6400) is blossoming into a productive forward for the Hoosiers. Note the game is not on FD's main slate. | |||||||
| Trevion Williams | PUR | ND | 8300 | 32.18 | 7600 | 29.81 | |
| Trevion Williams is yet another great big man in the Big 10. He started off a bit slow in his first three games for the Purdue Boilermakers but his last two games he's been outstanding. He had 30 and 11 against Indiana St and followed it up with a 16 point, nine rebound, eight assist game in a win over Ohio St. He's averaging a double-double this season and you are starting to realize my love for double-double machines. At 6-10 265 lbs Williams is a load and I don't see ND's bigs like Nate Laszewski being able to slow him down in the paint. If you want a really cheap paydown option go with Purdue's 7-4 giant Zach Edey ($4800) | |||||||
| Drew Timme | GONZ | IOWA | 7900 | 34.75 | 7400 | 32.27 | |
| I included Drew Timme on my last playbook but unfortunately the Baylor/Gonzaga game got postponed due to Covid but with this marquee matchup against Iowa I'm looking to get him in my lineup. Timme is averaging 23.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg for the Zags. While Garza is a beast if he was a good defender he'd be a top pick in next season's NBA Draft. Timme should have no problem getting his in this battle between two great bigs, | |||||||
| Value Forwards | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Romello White | MISS | DAY | 6700 | 27.31 | 6500 | 25.98 | |
| I was watching Ole Miss play the other day against Scottie Pippen's alma mater Arkansas Central and completely forgot Romello White transferred there. White was very productive in three seasons at ASU yet he decided to take his talents to Oxford. Through four games White is averaging 13.3 ppg and 6.8 rpg. He will battle in the post with Dayton's Jordy Tshimanga, who I like as a paydown option by the way ($4700 DK, $4900 FD), but White has way more game experience thus I see him getting his. | |||||||
| Armando Bacot | UNC | UK | 6600 | 24.29 | 6500 | 22.18 | |
| I'm not sure if this is more so about Bacot or me fading UK's Olivier Sarr, who has continued to burn me in this thing. Well not anymore! To Sarr's credit he had a nice game against ND but against KU he got into foul trouble with McCormick and now hes facing two great bigs vs UNC with Bacot and Garrison Brooks. | |||||||
| Micah Potter | WISC | UL | 6500 | 24.75 | 6100 | 23.00 | |
| I like Micah Potter because you know what you are going to get. If you looked at his game logs they are all pretty much the same, about 13 points and seven rebounds. He is a great GPP play and has a nice matchup against a Louisville team whose star guard is second on the team in rebounding. If you want to save a few extra bucks look at teammate Nate Reuvers ($5700 DK, $5800 FD). | |||||||
| Jalen Hill | UCLA | OSU | 5800 | 24.69 | |||
| Jalen Hill's averages wont blow you away with 8.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg but he really has an appetizing matchup against OSU. The reason being is OSU is without their leading scorer in big man Ej Liddell. In their two games without him against Cleveland St and Purdue the Buckeyes got exposed from opposing bigs. So I like Hill or the two other bigs in UCLA's rotation Chris Smith ($7100) and Cody Riley ($4900) but Hill may offer the best value. Note this game is not on the FD slate. | |||||||
Example Lineups
(These are examples of what is possible with the Playbook and not intended for plug and play)