College basketball DFS picks and strategy for the opening round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament are profiled, with a $25k top prize on the line on DraftKings for Thursday's slate.
College Basketball DFS: DraftKings Picks & Preview for Thursday, March 19
There's no time of the year like March Madness, and for DFS players, there are finally some big payouts to play for. DraftKings is offering a $25k top prize in its CBB $100k Tourney Tip-Off, which features all 16 games on the Thursday slate (a few teams still TBD based on play-ins at time of publication).
Here at RotoWire, we'll be offering DFS college basketball articles for each day that features NCAA Tournament games. Since there are quite a few new faces here this time of year, I first want to run down a few of the tools we offer here on RotoWire before getting into my recommendations.
The home base for most of our subscribers is our redesigned DFS College Basketball Lineup Optimizer, but as any DFS player knows, an optimizer is only as good as how you use it. Sure, go ahead and give the default optimizer a spin, but if there's a play you're not confident in, we encourage using the red X to remove them from your player pool. Think our formula might overvalue a mid-major player whose stats are built on lower competition? Boom, trust your gut and eliminate them from the pool. This also works great with injured players who we're pretty sure will be out but don't know definitively yet, so they still have projections. You can also "like" a player to increase their projection by 20 percent, or manually change a projection to whatever you like.
If you agree with any of my recommendations below, use the padlock button to make sure they are featured in your lineup, or if mass entering, increase their minimum exposure percentage via the customizations menu. In addition to exposure, the "Customizations" menu at the top of the screen features a whole new assortment of options for variance, custom groups and more.
More College Basketball DFS Tools
Another popular tool is the DFS Matchup Info page, where you can sort the teams by implied total, as well as offensive/defensive efficiency stats calculated by our our developers behind the scenes. It's the perfect place to get started, as it will help you find out which games to target. Here's a sneak peek at Thursday's teams with the highest implied point totals:
Next up, our Advanced College Basketball Lineups page is a resource that's second to none. Here, you'll be able to view recent starters for each team in the player pool alongside salaries, with stats like minutes, usage and fantasy PPG included. It's perfect for researching the lesser-known mid-majors and gathering recent trends. You can also click on any team logo to navigate to a team-specific page, which shows usage from last year among other stats. Here's one for Georgia-Saint Louis, which has one of the tighter spreads among the projected high-scoring games:
Last but certainly not least, any DFS player knows that the best potential values are often created by injuries, so it's imperative to check out our College Basketball Injury Report, which you can filter by the DFS slate of your choice. Here's a snap shot of players with an injury tag for Thursday:
My colleague Ryan Andrade also has a more in-depth breakdowndown of March Madness injuries, with additional context, what these players mean to their teams, and a prediction of their likelihood of actually suiting up in the opening round. Super valuable piece that's 100 percent free.
With all the tools and tricks now out of the way, let's go ahead and take a look at some of the top picks for Thursday's slate, organized by salary tier.
College Basketball DFS Top Players
Graham Ike, F, Gonzaga ($10,200)
Ike checks in as our highest projected points scorer despite being $1000 cheaper than Duke's Cameron Boozer ($11,200). Gonzaga's game is a little tighter, and Braden Huff (knee) will not be available for the Bulldogs. Ike gets a pace boost against Kennesaw state, who ranks 19th in KenPom's adj. tempo rating. The Owls also check in at No. 214 in defensive rebounding rate. Ike could hit value in the first half here.
Darius Acuff, G, Arkansas ($9,500)
Arkansas checks in with the highest implied total of the day (via RotoWire's daily college basketball matchup information tool), and Acuff is on fire, scoring 50+ fantasy points in three of his last four. Hawaii plays a "no-help" defense where there are no switches and defenders lock onto their man. It's designed to force contested one-on-one shots, but Acuff is a no-doubt NBA lottery pick that is perfectly equipped to exploit this strategy. He'll beat anyone from Hawaii one-on-one with his ability to score from anywhere on the court. Count on another huge game.
See the rest of the slate's top projected players with RotoWire's DraftKings college basketball projections.
Middle Tier
Larry Johnson, G, McNeese ($7,400)
Johnson has posted 29.5 or more fantasy points in six straight, and is just a game removed from a 27-point, 12-rebound, 7-steal effort that resulted in 58 fpts. Vanderbilt's strength is offense, and while 31st in efficiency and 58th in opponent effective FG percentage are not numbers to balk at, they can be scored on (gave up 86 to Arkansas in the SEC tournament exit). Johnson has a superstar ceiling at a mid-tier price. Mathmatically, he's the No. 1 "value" in RotoWire's College Basketball DFS Lineup Optimizer.
Izaiyah Nelson, F, South Florida ($7,800)
This one is a pure GPP play. Louisville's interior defensive marks are excellent, and Nelson carries a hint of foul-trouble risk. But he's also the American POY, DPOY and Newcomer of the Year, and that's a league that was once thought to be nearly on par with power conferences. Nelson will get a full minutes workload here in a relatively tightly-projected game (Louisville -5.5), and he brings a ceiling in the 50s.
Robbie Avila, F, Saint Louis ($7,600)
One way or another, you need a part of this game. At time of posting, it's the highest over/under on the slate by four full points, and a tight spread (Georgia -2.5) means it could be close, maybe even result in overtime. Avila is the safest way in as the minutes and fppg leader for the Bilikens. His ability to shoot the three will create matchup problems by forcing Somto Cyril out of the paint and helping create for his teammates.
Other options for the Billikens are usage leader Amari McCottry ($6,600), who seems to see more run in higher-stakes games, and Ishan Sharma ($4,400), a young wing who can be a streaky shooter. The latter is best left for GPPs, as he has a range of outcomes this year from literally zero to 43 fantasy points.
The Georgia side is tougher, as Saint Louis is a really great defensive team. Despite the pace boost, Saint Louis opponents have the second-lowest effective FG percentage in the country, and hte team ranks 42nd in efficiency (per KenPom). The top options Kanon Catchings ($7,300), Blue Cain ($7,500) and Marcus Millender ($6,800). I lean Millender as the PG and minutes leader who has 20+ fpts in 9 of his last 10. I'm fading Somto Cyril ($5,700), as I believe the aforementioned matchup issues will result in fewer minutes than average.
College Basketball DFS Value Plays
Hunter Erickson, G, Hawaii ($4,500)
Erickson is the starting point guard for Hawaii and leads all players in minutes per game. He's had double-digit fantasy points in 26 consecutive games and hit 30+ four times this year. Erickson can be prone to turnovers, but Arkansas checks in at 240th in defensive turnover rate, plus providers a pace boost with a top-20 adj. tempo rating (per KenPom). Eat the chalk.
Fellow starter Isaac Finlinson ($4,000) is another great way to get a piece of this matchup, as he's logged 19+ fantasy points in five of his last six.
Barry Evans, F, VCU ($4,500)
Evans saw his price peak at $7,800 this year, but it's now at the second-lowest it has been all season. His shots weren't falling in the A-10 tournament, but he's played 34 minutes in three of four -- a rare trend for a team that typically runs deep. UNC plays at an above-average pace, and its interior defense stats were built upon a season with Caleb Wilson (1.4 bpg) in the lineup. The same logic works for Jadrian Tracey ($4,000) as a punt play, though his minutes aren't as steady, and the game log is a bit more volatile, so he may be best left for GPPs.
Agree with these value-play recommendations? Give them a spin in the RotoWire College Basketball DFS Lineup Optimizer.
Theo Seng, F, Troy ($4,700)
GPPs only, folks! Not only has Seng not played a game since Feb. 14, he has a range of outcomes between 13 and 46 points. He's practicing and expected to return for the NCAA Tournament, and this game has an early tip at 12:40 p.m. ET, so you'll be able to see if he's in the starting lineup or not early. Nebraska has a solid defense, but ranks 124th in opponent 2Pt FG percentage. Seng is a 6-9 senior who could be a slate-breaker, or a bust if he has some rust to shake off.
