College basketball is back, and we have a six-game slate today.

March Madness is a ways away, but you can get in all the college hoops hype by playing daily contests at FanDuel today. If you've played NBA DFS before, it's quite simple: pick a total of eight players -- four guards, three forwards, and one utility spot you can use for either position. Stay within the $50,000 salary cap and field the team you think will score the most fantasy points.

Scoring differs from NBA in the blocks and steals categories; each is worth two FanDuel points apiece rather than the three you get in NBA contests.

Now that you're in the know, we can attack today's slate, which locks at 7:00 p.m. EST. All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Which players should you be targeting and why?

Guards

Payton Willis, Minnesota ($6,700) - This slate is sorely lacking viable value plays under $5,000. However, the mid-tier guard selections offer a ton of intriguing targets. Willis is one of those players. The senior is contributing in every major statistical area for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Willis leads the Golden Gophers in usage rate (25.9%), assist rate (20.8%), and steal rate (3.6%). He is also posting a defensive rebounding rate of 13.7%. The matchup with the Pittsburgh Panthers is fantastic. The Panthers are in the midst of a rebuild, and they are struggling defensively. The Panthers are 180th in defensive efficiency. I also like former Panther, Xavier Johnson ($6,800), who is now a member of the Indiana Hoosiers. Johnson posted 46.9 FanDuel points in his last outing.

Anthony Polite, Florida State ($6,500) - With Rayquan Evans out, the Florida State backcourt becomes a value spot on this slate. Polite is averaging 0.87 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, Polite should pay off his salary in 29.9 minutes of action (assuming value is 4x of a player's salary). Polite logged 34 minutes (in regulation time) in the Seminoles' latest game with Evans out of the lineup.

Matthew Cleveland, Florida State ($5,600) - The lanky guard was a top 25 recruit nationally. Through six games, the freshman has lived up to his enormous billing. Cleveland leads the Seminoles with a 28.1% shot rate (percentage of the team's shot attempts by the player when the player is on the floor). He is also posting an impressive defensive rebounding rate (18.0%), assist rate (15.0%), and block rate (4.0%). Rayquan Evans' absence will open up more playing time for the ascending freshman.

Travis Keels, Duke ($5,400) - Keels' salary is a bit of head scratcher. The freshman carried a salary above $7,000 last week. His playing time should spike in a matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes. In two other matchups against top 25 teams, Keels logged 38 minutes against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He also played 34 minutes in the Duke Blue Devils season opener against the Kentucky Wildcats. The Duke guard held his own against top flight competition. Keels posted 22.3 FanDuel points against Gonzaga and 34.7 FanDuel points against Kentucky. Take advantage of Keels' salary -- we need it on this slate.

Jamarius Burton, Pittsburgh ($4,800) - On the plus side, Burton's 29.3% shot rate ranks second amongst the Panthers. Additionally, he is a willing distributor, as he is posting an assist rate of 24.9%. I will note that he has shot the ball terribly to start the season. If his shooting regresses near his career average then he should easily pay off his low salary. Burton is only connecting on 31.7% of his field goal attempts this season. Burton shot above 40% from the field in each of the last two seasons.

Forwards

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana ($8,600) - Jackson-Davis is my favorite spend-up option on this slate. The Indiana Hoosiers star is an animal on both ends of the court. TJD's rates are nearly unmatched in college basketball. He has a 26.7% usage rate, 18.6% defensive rebounding rate, 19.1% assist rate, and a 12.3% block rate. He also has the best matchup amongst the high-end options on this slate. He should stuff the stat sheet against the Syracuse Orange's struggling defense. The Orange rank 157th nationally in defensive efficiency.

Mark Williams, Duke ($7,400) - Williams is the classic boom-or-bust play. He provides elite rim protection, and that will be needed against Ohio State's star forward, EJ Liddell ($8,800). If Williams can stay out of foul trouble, he will likely push for nearly 30 minutes of playing time. That's pretty appetizing considering the Duke center is racking up 1.37 FanDuel points per minute.

Race Thompson, Indiana ($6,300) - Thompson and the rest of the Indiana starting lineup have had their playing time scaled back due to several blowouts early this season. In competitive games (three games decided by 11 points or less), Thompson is averaging 9.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 3.3 blocks/steals per game in 29.7 minutes of action (27.3 FanDuel points).

Malik Osborne, Florida State ($5,100) - Like Keels, Osborne is significantly under-salaried. The Seminoles forward leads the team in scoring (12.5 points per game) and rebounding (7.7 rebounds per game). While the matchup with the Purdue Boilermakers is difficult, Osborne should benefit from a condensed rotation. Hopefully, he will fly under the radar after back-to-back average games. However, I suspect he will be popular.

Zed Key, Ohio State ($4,500) - Key typically plays around 20 minutes per game, but I have to believe his rim protection will be needed against Duke's elite frontcourt. Key's block rate of 3.9% only trails EJ Liddell amongst the Buckeyes. Additionally, Key is averaging 0.75 FanDuel points per minute. If his minutes get extended at all against Duke, he becomes a tremendous source of salary relief.

Matthew Hiatt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matthew Hiatt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username easternmh. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.