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The 2025 NCAA Tournament continues on Friday with 4 high-profile games.
The Elite Eight will be set by the end of the day, but there are still 4 spots remaining for the next round. The SEC has 4 teams who will be competing on Friday: Ole Miss, Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee. Alabama and Florida have already punched their tickets to the Elite Eight as well.
Best DFS picks for March Madness on Friday, March 28
Below are 4 picks from Friday’s March Madness action that can be found on Dabble Fantasy. If you haven’t signed up with Dabble yet, here’s SDS’s exclusive Dabble promo code (SDS2) to help you earn a welcome bonus when you join!
Sean Pedulla, Ole Miss: Less than 15 points
Sean Pedulla is a great shooter and he’s been particularly clutch for Ole Miss during the postseason. But I’m fading his scoring total in this matchup as I think the projection is too high. Pedulla gets a lot of his points from beyond the arc, but he’s just 6-of-24 (25%) from out there since the start of the SEC Tournament.
In the Sweet 16, Pedulla is facing the No. 1 3-point percentage defense in the country in Michigan State. The Spartans do give up a decent volume of attempts, but no one has been better at limiting makes from beyond the arc this season. Big Ten opponents shot just 26.5% from 3-point range against Sparty this year. I’m not sure Pedulla will fare much better. Ultimately, I think Michigan State’s elite defense (4th in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom) will force someone other than Pedulla to score.
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee: More than 3 made 3-pointers
Tennessee shot it terribly in its previous 2 losses to Kentucky. Chaz Lanier was a big reason why — he went just 3-for-17 from downtown in those games. Lanier is a way better shooter than that and there’s nothing in Kentucky’s defensive profile to suggest it was anything the Wildcats were doing on those days. Kentucky was middle-of-the-road as a 3-point shooting defense in SEC play this season.
Lanier is also riding a big hot streak into this game. He’s 10-for-18 from 3-point range during the NCAA Tournament with 4+ makes in both games. He averaged 3 makes per game during SEC play. Given how fast Kentucky plays, Lanier should get a few more possessions in this game, too.
Vladislav Goldin, Michigan: More than 18 points
Vladislav Goldin averaged 19 points per game during Big Ten play, so I think we’re starting from a good place with this projection. Auburn has an elite defense with 2 bigs in Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell who can match up with Goldin and Danny Wolf. But Broome is Auburn’s offensive engine and can’t afford to get in foul trouble and Cardwell only plays about 20 minutes per game. I’m optimistic about Goldin’s chances to get involved in the offense early and often.
I also think this is a good matchup for Goldin stylistically. He gets to the foul line a bunch with nearly 7 attempts per game during the regular season. If Auburn has 1 weakness on defense, it’s keeping teams off the foul line. The Tigers are 310th nationally this season in free throw rate defense. Seeing as how Goldin is Michigan’s best bet to get to the charity stripe, I think he could get a few extra points on freebies.
J’Wan Roberts, Houston: More than 11 points
J’Wan Roberts averaged almost 13 points per game during Big 12 play and is coming off of an 18-point performance in the Round of 32 last weekend. He’s certainly capable of scoring well into the double figures. Roberts did miss a couple of games during the Big 12 Tournament due to injury, but his workload seems to be back to normal now. He played 32 minutes last weekend against Gonzaga and was very effective as a scorer, rebounder and playmaker.
In this matchup, Roberts will be facing a Purdue team that’s one of the absolutely worst nationally when it comes to defending the paint. The Boilermakers rank 341st in the country in 2-point percentage defense this season. Per CBB Analytics, Purdue is allowing teams to shoot better than 69% at the rim this season — more than 7% worse than the Division I average. Roberts has been Houston’s best finisher at the rim this season when you factor in both efficiency (64%) and attempts (112), per BartTorvik. Purdue’s lack of a rim protector should be something Roberts can exploit.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
