The college basketball season is running on fumes, but it’s still technically running. The April 1st college hoops slate has four more first-round games of the College Basketball Crown tournament and the NIT semifinal match ups. That’s six whole games! We’d be thrilled if we got a random Tuesday in June with six college basketball games ranging from ‘not bad’ to ‘intriguing’. In addition to the thrill of a slate, we can also build an Underdog Fantasy college basketball entry. They’ve got projections up, and we found three numbers you’ll want to play for today’s action.
Keep in mind that playing all three legs of our plays in Underdog Fantasy could win you 6X your money on a single entry. Let’s dig into tonight’s plays and remember to let it ride!
Underdog Fantasy College Basketball Picks April 1
Matt Dewoskin Underdog Fantasy College Basketball Pick Em Record (Est 11/4/2024)
All Pick Em Selections: 206-174-4
Perfect 3-0 Pick Em Entries: 20-108
Jizzle James Higher Than 3.5 Assists
Cincinnati draws DePaul in the first round of the College Basketball Crown tournament. DePaul comes into this game allowing opponents to average 34.9 assists per game. Jizzle James is the top distributor for the Bearcats, and he should have no problem hooking his teammates up.
James enters this match up averaging 3.6 assists per game. He went higher than 3.5 assists in 15 out of 33 games played this year. However, he had more than 3.5 assists in eight out of 11 non-conference games played.
DePaul is missing a couple of guys for this game, and Cincinnati has the majority of its key players, including James. DePaul struggles on the defensive end, and James should find the soft spots and easy buckets for his guys. Lock up James to hand out at least four assists in your Underdog Fantasy college basketball entry for April 1st.
Damarco Minor Higher Than 13.5 Points
Oregon State gets to face the very Golden Knights of Central Florida in the first round of the College Basketball Crown tournament. UCF is supposedly missing eight guys on their roster. Oregon State will be without big men Michael Rataj and Parsa Fallah, and swing man Nate Kingz.
Damarco Minor is still on the roster and scheduled to play in the match up of the depleted. Let’s take his points total to go higher in this one.
Central Florida allowed opponents to score 80.1 points per game when they had their full complement of players. That’s 337th in the nation. What does this team look like without its top players? Our guess is that they’ll still struggle to stop Oregon State.
Minor comes into this game averaging 9.7 points per game. He only went higher than 13.5 points six times this season, but he was never the Beavers’ first scoring option. He probably will be today, and he could go off here. Keep in mind that Minor averaged more than 13.5 points per game in each of his first two years with SIU-Edwardsville.
The side we want to take in this one on our Underdog Fantasy college basketball entry is for Minor to go higher than 13.5 points.
Desmond Claude Higher Than 17.5 Points
USC gets to play Tulane in their first round game of the College Basketball Crown tonight. Tulane will be without two starters and a rotation guard for this game.
Desmond Claude comes into this match up averaging 16.3 points per game. He’s gone higher than 17.5 points in three of his last four games. USC should have all its guys, and Claude is the top option on offense. He gets to go up against a Tulane roster that was mediocre defensively to begin with, and has to start a couple of backups. Claude should have no problem scoring here.
Tulane comes into this game allowing opponents to average 71.2 points per game. That’s 132nd in the nation, but it’s also with the full group. The Green Wave doesn’t struggle with perimeter defense or the interior, but they do give up a ton of free throw attempts, and Claude is good at getting to the line. Free throws should push Claude over the top in this match up.
The College Basketball Experience
For more analysis on every college basketball game for the 2024-25 season, make sure you tune into The College Basketball Experience. Colby Dant, Moneyline Mac, and Noah Bieniek talk about each game on the entire slate. Listen for input on ATS and moneyline college basketball picks every night!
