Welcome back, FAmily to another evening of college basketball action as we dive into the top CBB DFS picks for Wednesday night. The marquee DFS game of the night is a high-scoring SEC battle as the Florida Gators travel to Rupp Arena to face No. 19 Kentucky with a 171-point game total. Other top games tonight include Zach Edey and No. 2 Purdue at home against Northwestern in the Big 10; the top-ranked offense in the nation, Mark Sears and No. 24 Alabama travelling to Athens to face Georgia in the SEC and St. John’s playing Xavier in the Big East. 

It's a 12-game slate on DraftKings with a 6:30p ET lock and six games on FanDuel starting at 7:30p ET so let's dive into all the top CBB DFS picks and value plays at the guard and forward positions tonight. All college basketball odds below are via DraftKings Sportsbook when publishing. Good luck with your college basketball DFS lineups for Wednesday, January 31st…

 

College Basketball DFS Slate January 31

6:30p ET Alabama (-6.0) @ Georgia 166.0 O/U

6:30p ET Northwestern @ Purdue (-13.5) 142.5 O/U

6:30p ET St. John’s @ Xavier (-1.5) 157.0 O/U

7p ET Baylor (-3.0) @ Central Florida 139.5 O/U

7p ET Cincinnati (-4.5) @ West Viginia 145.0 O/U

7p ET Wake Forest @ Pittsburgh (-1.5) 143.5 O/U

7p ET Notre Dame @ Virginia (-13.0) 115.5 O/U

8p ET Florida @ Kentucky (-6.0) 171.5 O/U

8:30p ET Penn State @ Rutgers (-7.0) 143.0 O/U

8:30p ET Providence @ Connecticut (-12.0) 140.0 O/U

8:30p ET Arkansas @ Missouri (-5.5) 144.0 O/U

9p ET Vanderbilt @ Auburn (-17.0) 143.0 O/U

Top CBB DFS Guards

Tristen Newton- Connecticut vs. Providence ($8.5K DK/8.4K FD)

Tristen Newton is a star.  He is the best player on the nation’s nest team and leads the No. 1 Huskies in scoring (15.8), assists (5.8) and rebounds (6.4) and is the NCAA's active leader in triple-doubles. Newton has recorded five games of 20 or more points this season and has four double-doubles this season and a triple-double. With a 28.0% usage rate and 32.1 DK average over his last five games, a sub $9K Tristen Newton is fully in play tonight in all formats.

Hunter Sallis- Wake Forest @ Pittsburgh ($7.0K DK/7.0K FD)

I am a Hunter Sallis fan, and he is as safe as they come in cash games. After two seasons coming off the bench at Gonzaga, Sallis was one of the better players to hit the transfer portal last spring and the talented combo guard that can slide up to the wing has broken in year three. He can make things happen and has now scored double-digits in each of the team's 19 contests this year – the longest streak by any Wake Forest player this season. Sallis has been below 25 DK only once since early December giving him one of the safest floors at the guard position tonight and he will be a staple of my cash game lineups. 

Other Top CBB DFS Guards

  • Devin Carter, Providence ($9.9K DK/9.0K FD)- Carter is totally smashing and is the top overall guard on the slate averaging 43.8 DK over his last five games. The issue on DK is his price with Zach Edey being on the same slate. On FD fire up Carter with no worries. 
  • Boo Buie, Northwestern ($8.7K DK)- It seems like we have been playing Buie forever and he is now one of the top guards in the Big 10 having scored 30+ DK in six of his last seven games. 
  • Aaron Estrada, Alabama ($7.4K DK/6.5K FD)- Mark Sears is always in play but I like Estrada tonight in a game he can smash against Georgia- this is his type of matchup (29.2 DK over the last five games). 
  • Walter Clayton Jr., Florida ($6.9K DK/6.4K FD)- Clayton Jr. is one of the top GPP plays tonight in a high-scoring matchup with Kentucky. 
     
  • Dan Skillings Jr., Cincinnati (6.7K DK)- Skillings is another low-owned play that has scored 30+ DK in three of his last five games. 
  • Chris Ledlum G/F, St. John’s ($6.4K DK)- Ledlum is a sneaky play and may come in under-owned after a stinker last game against Villanova. 
  • Tamar Bates, Missouri ($6.1K DK)- Bates is on a heater and has scored in double digits in every game since 12/9 (Kansas). He has a 27% usage rate over his last five games (26.4 DK) and is a solid cash game play.

Top CBB DFS Value Guards (Under $6K DK)

Raquan Battle, West Virginia ($5.8K DK)

Battle is coming off a dud game at Oklahoma State but that may just keep his ownership down. This is just too cheap of a price for a player with a 33% usage rate over his last five games who can put up 40 DK points on any night.

RJ Luis, St. John’s ($5.9K DK/5.5K FD)

Luis may very well make my main team lineup tonight as he leads St. John’s in usage of the last five games (28.8%) and can easily hit 5X value against Xavier.
Ryan Langborg, Northwestern ($5.7K DK)- The $5-$6K range is loaded tonight and Langborg plays nearly every minute and has been 25+DK over his last three games. 

Darius Johnson. UCF ($5.7K DK)

This is the lowest price point of the season for Johnson due to a scoring slump (17 total points over his last three games), but he is just too talented to keep down for too long. 

Antwann Jones, UCF ($4.2K DK)

Jones has played 25 minutes in each of the last two games coming off the bench and is averaging 24 DK in that span. With the way he has been playing, he could get another nice run tonight against Baylor. If Shemarri Allen is out again Jones would be in play as a value.


Silas Demary, Georgia ($6.5K DK/5.6K FD)- Demary is cheap on FD in a pace-up game against Alabama.

Top CBB DFS Forwards

Zach Edey, Purdue vs. Northwestern ($10.8K DK)

The 7-foot-4 Purdue center has been nothing but dominant all season. Edey is leading the Big 10 in blocks (2.3), rebounds (11.4) and field goal percentage plus is scoring at a 23.0 point per game clip. He is coming off a monster game against Rutgers where he scored 26 points with 12 rebounds and four blocks (50.5 DK) and is averaging 27 points, 14.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2.6 blocks over his last five games. You are going to have to pay a mega salary, but Zach Edey is the top overall play of the slate.

Cliff Omoruyi, Rutgers vs. Penn State ($7.4K DK)

This is a dream matchup for big Cliff at home today against one of the very worst rebounding teams in the nation- Penn State. The Nittany Lions have a 27.0% offensive board rate (249th) and a 32.9% defensive rebound rate (312th!). It doesn’t get much worse than those numbers and Omoruyi comes into the game carrying a 10.7% offensive and 23.8% defensive rebound rate (79th in the nation) plus a 12.9% blocked shot rate which is good enough for 9th in the nation. Over his last five games he is scoring 11.6 points per game with 9.3 rebounds (29.4 DK) and now gets the comfort of home where he is capable of a fifty burger.

Other Top CBB DFS Forwards (Under $6K DK)

  • Johni Broome, Auburn ($8.6K DK)- Broome played 34 minutes against Mississippi State last game which may be a good sign that Coach Pearl is loosening the reigns as we enter February. This is a player that can nuke any slate. 
  • Joel Soriano, St. John’s ($7.7K DK/8.2K FD)- Soriano is a top GPP play at this price due to a mediocre month but did put up 21 points and nine rebounds (35.3 DK) against Villanova in his last game.
  • Tyrese Samuel, Florida ($7.0K DK/6.8K FD)- Tonight we get Samuel at his lowest price point of the season after a dud in a strong matchup over the weekend against Georgia. This is a strong “get right” spot in an up-tempo game against Kentucky.
  • Russel Tchewa, Georgia ($6.9K DK/5.6K FD)- Tchewa has posted back-to-back double-doubles against LSU and Florida and got another up-tempo game against Alabama. I love the FD price here.
  • Blake Hinson, Pittsburgh ($7.5K DK/6.5K FD)- Hinson has 35+ DK in two of his last three games and gets a plus matchup against Wake Forest.
  • Grant Nelson, Alabama ($7.6K DK/6.3K FD)- Nelson is more of an FD play due to price but he could smash this slate against a very bad rebounding Georgia squad (27.4% offensive/31.9% defensive). He has put up 30+ FD in three of his last five games.

Top CBB Value Forwards

Jordan Minor, Virginia ($5.9K DK)

Strong forward value is lacking tonight but Minor has started five straight games, the issue is that he is capable of an 8.5 DK point game or 28.8 DK as he did against Virginia Tech a couple of weeks ago. 

Chandler Lawson, Arkansas ($4.6K DK)

Of course, you can never be safe with an Arkansas player, but Lawson has played 25 minutes in three of his last four games and started in all four. If we can get 4X value, we will be happy at this price but it’s never a guarantee with a Musselman player. 

Federiko Federiko, Pittsburgh ($5.3K/4.3K FD)

Federiko is another volatile GPP-only player, but he has started three straight games with a range of outcomes being 13 DK-22 DK points.

DRAFTKINGS CORE

Zach Edey- Purdue
Hunter Sallis- Wake Forest
Cliff Omoruyi- Rutgers

FANDUEL CORE

Devin Carter- Providence
Grant Nelson- Alabama
Russel Tchewa- Georgia