College Fantasy Football: Ready for Kickoff

by David Kaplen (headChopper) Last Updated 2011-11-07 01:59:33

Ready for Kickoff!

About the Writer: Fantasy Sports has always been a part of headChopper’s life; he began wagering on professional sports in high-school, and for the last 12 years he has been playing high-stakes, season-long fantasy leagues. In 2008 his passion for fantasy sports evolved when Snapdraft introduced him to the world of Daily Fantasy Sports. Since then, headChopper has been dominating the competition! He spent much of 2009 near the top of both FanDuel and SnapDraft’s leaderboards. In addition, he specializes in four different sports and is notorious for his knowledge in Daily Fantasy College Football. headChopper has been ranked as high as #3 in the RotoGrinders Overall Rankings.

Ready for Kickoff

Well, it’s that time of year again. Fantasy baseball is over and basketball has yet to begin. If hockey is not really your cup of tea, and NASCAR just doesn’t do it for you, you’re left with the NFL. But NFL only offers a full slate of games on Sunday and one [usually anticlimactic] game on Monday. So if you’re like me (a die-hard fantasy lover), you’re stuck in no-mans land. Well, I think I have an answer for you! Have you tried college fantasy football? If not, then this game could change your entire state of mind on what Daily Fantasy Sports has to offer! Maybe it’s the non-stop run of games kicking off at Noon EST every Saturday; you have one good game after another until the last of the west coast games concludes over 12 hours later. Not to mention the Thursday and Friday games that are on ESPN. If that isn’t it, maybe it’s the fact that as you sit there on Saturday, engorged in the great action, that in the back of your head you know you still have an entire Sunday of pro games to look forward to as well.

Currently, College Fantasy Football is only offered on two sites. Snapdraft offers the usual salary cap game in which you pick your team from a list of players and squeeze them in under the cap. Now, this is a decent game and gives you a little more ability to pick-and-choose your own personal deep sleepers, but personally I prefer the college games offered at 365 Fantasy Sports. They offer a variety of games ranging from: a contest where your roster is nothing but QB’s, a contest of nothing but All-American players (you choose between 2 players for each roster spot), a game with 3 QB’s, 3 RB’s and 3 WR’s, and a standard point cap game. What’s nice about 365 is that you don’t have to be an expert to compete. The choices are players that most people are familiar with and if you run into names you don’t recognize, then there is an icon next to the players name that will provide you with his season stats.

With that being said, it is Week 7 of the College Football season, and here is an inside look into my selection process for the NCAA 3×3×3 game being offered this weekend at 365:

Inside Look: NCAA 3 × 3 × 3

QB1

The Pick – Colin Kaepernick: Running QB’s are great and CK is one of the best. Potts is a great choice this week because of a probable shootout, and Moniz will light it up also. You probably wouldn’t go wrong with any of the 3, but I’ll take Mr. Reliable, Colin K.

QB2

The Pick – Russell Wilson. Russ can beat you running or passing. This should be a high scoring game with a lot of offense. Weedan is a close second here, but I fear Kendall Hunter may grab a couple of his TD’s. Pryor with a tough matchup and Nesbitt might be done early, so I’ll take Russell the “love muscle” in this bracket.

QB3

The Pick – Ryan Mallett. Mallett has a big time arm and the razorbacks don’t run the ball very much. Auburn is ranked 90th in the nation versus the pass and this should be a shootout. Kinne is a nice option and Chappell is tempting with a matchup against a weak team, but for this bracket, give me the Mallett Man.

RB1

The Pick – Via Taua. I never like to take a QB and RB from the same team on the same day. However in this case I have to. It should be a big time shootout, and every time Nevada crosses that goal line you are going to get points because Taua and CK are the only guys who score for the Wolfpack. I couldn’t fault anyone for taking Murray or Quizz here, as they are true studs. Mark Ingram will look to take out frustration this week on Mississippi, but Via Tuna is my stud here.

RB 2

The Pick – Shane Vereen. I hate taking a rb against USC, because they are full of athletes and are not too bad against the run. However, Vereen is the only true stud in this bracket and he is a workhorse. Evans may be slowed by Ryan Williams return and Rodney Stewart just doesn’t cut the mustard here. White is a nice sleeper and Allen could exploit an 87th ranked run defense. In this group though, give me the stud Sugar Shane.

RB 3

The Pick – Kendall Hunter. Absolutely no need to analyze this one. Hunter is the best rb of this group and also happens to have the best matchup. For me this is the easiest bracket of the day right here.

WR 1

The Pick – Jeff Fuller. Come after Fuller, he’s a man, He’s 40!!! Sorry, I couldn’t help a little Mike Gundy rant. It still makes me laugh when I hear it. But really though, have you seen Jeff Fuller? He is a man. He towers over every defensive back he ever faces. He is listed at 6-4 and 215 pounds. The 215 part I am not buying. This guy is a College Station corndog away from 230 lbs. He is the red zone wizard for a pass happy offense and I can smell a sweet shootout in this one. My money is on the Man-Child, Jeff Fuller.

WR 2

The Pick – Lyle Leong. This is a tough pick in this bracket. Green is the most talented wr in the nation. Ashlon Jeffery is a beast. Doss has nice matchup and Woods is really coming on strong. Now that Potts has a full arsenal of wr’s, he really spreads the ball around. But in a game that could see him throw for 500 yards and a bushel of TD’s, I think there is enough gold for all the villagers. I’m rolling with Lyle “five-dollar foot” Leong.

WR 3

The Pick – Ryan Broyles. I give Broyles the nod in this bracket in a close call with Kearse from Washington. Washington, Oregon State could be a nice little shootout, but Broyles is the go-to wr for a high powered offense that should roll up the points this weekend. Hankerson and Gordon are a little too inconsistent for me and Harrison is battling an injury. So for this set of wr’s, Broyles is the king.

And there you have it! Easy as pie, right? 365 features another four games in addition to this one, so there is a wide variety to choose from. But be afraid, be very afraid – that if you try out college fantasy for the first time you might actually find your Saturdays becoming a little more TV-oriented than they use to be.