NCAAB

FanDuel College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 3/3/22

Austan Kas  —  @AustanKas Mar 3rd, 2022

March Madness is on the horizon, but you can get into college hoops today by playing daily contests at FanDuel.

If you've played NBA DFS before, college basketball DFS is similar. You pick a total of eight players -- four guards, three forwards, and one utility spot. Stay within the $50,000 salary cap, and field the team you think will score the most fantasy points.

The scoring settings differ from NBA in the blocks and steals categories; each is worth two FanDuel points, rather than the three you get in NBA contests.

Now that you're in the know, let's attack today's main slate. All betting lines come from NCAAB odds.

Guards

Ochai Agbaji, Kansas ($8,000) - Agbaji is my favorite high-salary guard play on this slate. Kansas is at home against TCU in a meeting of teams that just played each other two nights ago. In that one, Agbaji totaled only 27.1 FanDuel points thanks to struggling to just 13 real-life points. He had netted at least 20 points in four games in a row prior to that one. He's still scored at least 26.1 FanDuel points in five straight, and he's got 33.9 and 38.4 FanDuel points in his past two home games.

Kerr Kriisa, Arizona ($5,400) - Let's keep going back to the well with Kriisa, who got us 30.8 FanDuel points last time out. Arizona's 83.00-point implied total is the slate's highest. While there's huge blowout risk with the 'Cats an 18.5-point favorite at Stanford, Kriisa has played 31 and 36 minutes in Arizona's last two wins, both of which came by exactly 20 points. He's seen at least 29 minutes in four straight and is easy to like at his salary.

Connor McCaffrey, Iowa ($5,100) - The best DFS game environment of the slate is the Michigan-Iowa clash. It holds a slate-best (by 8.0 points) 155.5-point total and 2.0-point spread. Both teams are good on offense and bad on D. According to KenPom, Michigan is 19th in adjusted offense and 80th in defense. Iowa is 6th in offense and 79th in defense. McCaffrey might start again tonight with his brother, Patrick, looking iffy. In that role last time out, Connor played 33 minutes, took a season-high 10 shots and finished with 26.8 FanDuel points.

Eli Brooks, Michigan ($4,700) - Brooks sees huge minutes -- at least 33 in 13 straight games -- and is a low-salary way to get exposure to the juicy Michigan-Iowa matchup. Prior to scoring 15.1 and 9.4 FanDuel points in his past two games, Brooks had averaged 24.1 FanDuel points across his last nine contests. The game environment gives his floor and ceiling a boost. Michigan's 78.75-point implied total is the slate's second-highest.

Forwards

Keegan Murray, Iowa ($8,700) - Sticking with the Iowa-Michigan matchup. Murray and Hunter Dickinson ($8,500) are quality high-upside plays. Of the two, I side with Murray, who sports a 30.3% usage rate, per Sports-Reference. He's averaging 41.1 FanDuel points per game for the campaign and has posted at least 33.2 FanDuel points in eight consecutive outings. Dickinson, meanwhile, has hit that level only three times in his last six games.

Kofi Cockburn, Illinois ($8,400) - Cockburn is in a smash spot against Penn State. Illinois is a 12.5-point road favorite, and although Penn State's 353-ranked pace is a downer, the Illini still boast a solid 73.25-point implied total. Plus, a slower game without many fast-break chances could lead to lots of post touches for Cockburn. He has put up between 30.0 and 37.9 FanDuel points in four of his last five games, and he's broken 50.0 FanDuel points twice since the calendar flipped to 2022. He could go off versus the Nittany Lions.

N'Faly Dante, Oregon ($5,700) - Dante and Quincy Guerrier ($6,100) are modest-salaried ways to get a piece of Oregon. The Ducks are 4.0-point favorites at Washington and should be able to find plenty of offensive success against a Huskies defense that checks in 116th. Dante's 20.0% usage rate is third on the team among regulars, and he's produced at least 22.8 FanDuel points in three of his last five appearances. Guerrier has outputs of 28.0 and 26.7 FanDuel points over his past three games and owns a 19.6% usage rate for the year.

Gabe Brown, Michigan State ($4,900) - Brown has games of 15.7 and 20.1 FanDuel points over his past two outings, and Michigan State's offense is in a good spot against an Ohio State D that ranks 118th and just allowed Maryland and Nebraska to record 75 and 78 points, respectively. In a balanced MSU attack, Brown's 11.4 points per game are a team-high clip, and he's taken nine shots in two consecutive games. On a slate that is hurting for value, Brown is a viable play.