Daily Fantasy College Basketball 2015: DraftKings Strategy for March 21st

Thursday was a legendary day of basketball. The tournament saw a single day record five games decided by one point. Iowa State and Baylor, two 'smart' picks to make deep runs, both lost before people in Hawaii started their commute to work. 

Major programs like Notre Dame, UCLA and UNC all escaped by the skin of their teeth despite holding double-digit leads at some point in the game. 

Yesterday things settled down a little more. Dayton was the only double-digit seed to advance, though Indiana, Valparaiso, Georgia, Belmont, UC Irvine, Albany, North Dakota State and Buffalo came close. Wait a second, that's nine of the 14 double-digit seeds...

Bottom line, as predicted, this year's tournament has been unpredictable. 

Does that make any sense? Whatever, March Madness is great.

Here's a guide to ease your mind as you prep for Saturday's eight-game slate of college basketball daily fantasy, which is offered, as always, by draftkings.com.

Studs	Opp.	Price		Values	Opp.	Price
Jerian Grant	vs. Butler	$9,100		Demetrius Jackson	vs. Butler	$5,800
Marcus Paige	vs. Ark	$8,100		Rashad Madden	vs. UNC	$5,800
T.J. McConnell	vs. OSU	$7,800		Justin Jackson	vs. Ark	$5,600
Norman Powell	vs. UAB	$7,600		Josh Hart	vs. NCST	$5,500
Darrun Hilliard	vs. NCST	$7,100		Alex Barlow	vs. ND	$5,400
Anthony Barber*	vs. VU	$7,000		Kevin Ware	vs. Xav	$4,700
Dylan Ennis	vs. NCST	$6,100

*Note* The asterisks denote players who tend to be more volatile and fit better for a major tournament or guaranteed prize pool. All other players have high enough floors where they might not light the world on fire, but they'll provide safety and consistency.

Norman Powell ($7,600) vs. UAB

Bryce Alford will get the headlines for making 9-of-11 shots from downtown in UCLA's "upset" win over SMU. But let's be realistic, he got pretty extremely lucky. 

Norman Powell is the most important player on this UCLA team. Ask a fan of the team. Bryce is overconfident and encouraged to shoot literally every single time he gets a glimpse of the hoop—much to that UCLA fan's disdain. 

But watch any seven-minute section of a UCLA game and I guarantee you will see at least one wow moment from Powell. When I watch him, I see shades, thin slivers maybe, of Russell Westbrook. His hops, relentless attacks of the rim and general disregard for his body are borderline Westbrookian. 

On to the actual game. According to Kenpom.com, UAB turns it over on more than 20% of its possessions. That plays right into Powell's active defensive hands. Look for the UCLA guard to turn a few steals into fast-break dunks en route to a big fantasy day.

In fact, Powell went 1-for-8 on threes in UCLA's first meeting with UAB this season and still scored 17 points, grabbed four boards and dished out three assists. If he had gone 3-for-8 (completely within reason), it would have been a huge fantasy day. 

Josh Hart ($5,500) vs. NC State

I mentioned Hart when I touched on the trio of sweet shooting Villanova guards last week. Guess what, he's stayed hot. Hart has achieved value in his last four contests. His consistency is partly due to his high shooting percentage (five straight games above 50%) and his lineup distribution. 

Hart gets run no matter what the score is. Coach Jay Wright likes Hart to play with the starters but keeps him in the game even if 'Nova is blowing out its opponent. 

North Carolina State does not match up well with Villanova. The Wildcats like to spread the floor, move the ball quickly and shoot open threes with deadly accuracy. State is tough inside, with a block percentage that ranks 37th in the country, but it allows opponents to shoot over 33% from downtown. Josh Hart should feast.

Studs	Opp.	Price		Values	Opp.	Price
Bobby Portis	vs. UNC	$9,200		J.P. Tokoto	vs. Ark	$6,300
Brice Johnson	vs. Ark	$7,500		Tony Parker*	vs. UAB	$5,700
Brandon Ashley	vs. OSU	$6,700		Kaleb Tarczewski	vs. OSU	$5,000
Zach Auguste	vs. Butler	$6,400		Alandise Harris*	vs. UNC	$4,900

Brandon Ashley ($6,700) vs. Ohio State

Kaleb Tarczewski ($5,000) vs. Ohio State

Ohio State is a very strong defensive team, but if the Buckeyes have a weakness on that end, it's defending larger post-up players. Their two tallest starters are listed at 6'7". Kaleb Tarczewski is seven-feet tall. He should have his way with the short Ohio State frontcourt.

Brandon Ashley was an extremely popular pick for daily fantasy on Thursday. Sadly, he didn't have a great night, scoring just 20.5 fantasy points on 14 points, four boards and an assist. He will have to make a bigger impact today because Ohio State's guards will force Arizona's guards into more difficult situations. If Arizona wants to advance to its second straight Sweet 16, Ashley will have to be a bigger offensive factor.

Everyone in the North Carolina vs. Arkansas game

Per Kenpom.com, the estimated final score of this game will be 82-79 North Carolina. Both teams are in the top 20 in both offensive efficiency and pace. Look for an extremely fast paced game to yield a ton of fantasy points. More shots equals more points, rebounds and assists for everyone on the floor. Just be aware that a lot of other daily fantasy players will be focusing on this game as well.