Draftkings NCAA Basketball Picks: Alabama vs. Duke 3/29/25

The NCAA presents Draftkings basketball fans with an elite eight tournament matchup featuring the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Duke Blue Devils. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.

Before we dive into the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Duke Blue Devils game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings single game showdown contest.

Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules

You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.

The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.

*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.

Here are my Draftkings picks for this evening’s Alabama vs. Duke matchup.

Draftkings NCAA Basketball Showdown Picks

Captain-Cooper Flagg, Guard, Duke Blue Devils $12,400

Talented guard Cooper Flagg has quickly established himself as one of the best college basketball players in the country. With that said, how has the freshman Blue Devils guard performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Flagg’s relevant game data from the 2024 NCAA season (including postseason games) to answer that question.

In the 35 games that guard Cooper Flagg has played for the Duke Blue Devils this season, Flagg is averaging a rather impressive 19 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks a game.

Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the 35 games that Cooper Flagg has played for the Duke Blue Devils this season, Flagg has compiled 48.7% field goal percentage, a 37.2% three-point percentage and an 83.2% free throw percentage.

More recently, in the Duke Blue Devils impressive 100-93 win over the Arizona Wildcats two days ago, Duke guard Cooper Flagg played rather well. More specifically, Flagg accumulated a massive 30 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and one steal in the Duke Blue Devils victory over the Wildcats.

Examining the data just presented more closely, in Duke’s win over the Arizona Wildcats, Cooper Flagg tallied 57 Draftkings points.

In my opinion, Cooper Flagg is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this evening’s elite eight tournament game. Having stated that, I am backing Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NCAA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Mark Sears, Guard, Alabama Crimson Tide $10,800

Senior guard Mark Sears has certainly been a standout performer for the Alabama Crimson Tide this season. To better understand the importance of the senior guard’s contributions to the Alabama basketball team’s achievements this season let’s review Sears game data from the 2024 NCAA season (including postseason games).

In the 36 games that guard Mark Sears has played for the Alabama Crimson Tide this season, Sears is averaging 19 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 0.9 steals a game.

Additional flex plays I like to perform well in this NCAA tournament game (Draftkings price noted): Tyrese Proctor, Guard (Duke Blue Devils) $7,600: Khaman Maluach, Forward (Duke Blue Devils) $8,000: Grant Nelson, Forward (Alabama Crimson Tide) $6,200.