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RotoWire CBB Invitational Recap: The Sharks Smell Blood

Another Saturday full of college hoops action, another round of cuts in survivor. Four more entrants of the original 27 were eliminated this week, narrowing the field down to an even 20. (For a recap of Round 1, just click here.)

@Bronzesword ran away from the field this week, placing all 10 of his entries in one lineup -- the winning one. Here's how Varncass managed to secure the first 10 overall spots:

F: Kelan Martin ($8500) - Butler - 32.9 points

F: Caleb Martin ($5500) - NC State - 30.4 points

F: Devin Thomas ($8200) - Wake Forest - 42.7 points

F: Danuel House ($6800) - Texas A&M - 23.8 points

F: Wesley Gordon ($5600) - Colorado - 43.6 points

G: George King ($5900) - Colorado - 25.5 points

G: Anthony Barber ($9800) - NC State - 45.5 points

G: Barry Brown ($4800) - Kansas State - 19.7 points

G: Tyree Griffin ($4800) - Oklahoma State - 16.8 points

Total Fantasy Points: 280.90

Varncass got big days out of Cat Barber and Devin Thomas, but the true value in this lineup was Colorado's Wesley Gordon. With big man Josh Scott on the shelf due to an ankle injury, Gordon saw many more rebounding opportunities and ended up with 17 points, 13 boards and four blocks. A lot of us saw this coming, however, as Gordon was owned in nearly 60 percent of lineups in this contest.

Top RotoWire Lineup

The top RotoWire lineup wasn't constructed by man -- it was this week's "optimal lineup." Joel B. and I each gave the DFS Lineup Optimizer a whirl, and it turned out to be the only entry I advanced this week. Here's what it came up with:

F: Wesley Gordon ($5600) - Colorado - 43.6 points

F: Moses Kingsley ($8200) - Arkansas - 37.1 points

F: Caleb Martin ($5500) - NC State - 30.4 points

F:Maverick Rowan ($5500) - NC State - 22.8 points

F: Beejay Anya ($4500) - NC State - 9.5 points

G: Anthony Barber ($9800) - NC State - 45.5 points

G: Stefan Moody ($8600) - Ole Miss - 28.5 points

G: Alex Caruso ($6600) - Texas A&M - 22.5 points

G:Wayne Selden Jr. ($5600) - Kansas - 10.9 points

Total Fantasy Points: 250.8

The weight of pace and splits in our projections formula was brought to light here, as the optimizer essentially picked an NC State stack, showing they had a favorable, up-tempo matchup at home. Big days from Gordon and Moses Kingsley also helped out immensely.

What did I learn?

Maybe the machine is a bit better than me at this after all. Or perhaps it just had a good week. I also put a little too much faith in Jalen Jones of Texas A&M, using him in two of my three of my losing lineups. Even in an up-tempo game against a questionable defense, Jones and his $7700 price tag produced just 11.2 fantasy points.

I'm left with just one more lineup this week, so should I stick with it and enter the optimal lineup? I'll end up making the final call during Friday night's evaluation of the player pool, and will polish off the lineup after taking into account any Saturday morning injuries.

Lastly, here are the updated standings for the week. Only two participants still have 10 lineups alive, while last week's best performer, Cory B., saw six of his 10 lineups eliminated.

TwitterAffiliationEntries RemainingBest Finish
@BronzesworldRotoGrinders101
@unky_warthogIndependent1036
@E_ForstyIndependent811
@DubDeuces85Independent813
@uncl3dunkl3Daily Fantasy Cafe526
@CBassDFSIndependent433
Joel B.RotoWire320
@petemerrillRotoWire324
@RealJRAndersonRotoWire351
@Sodes34RotoWire226
@RotoWire_AlexRotoWire235
@verrill15235Independent259
@frquisNumberfire112
@Jupiter13Independent118
@JakeSki52RotoWire120
@freekobRotoWire158
@GSUGrindingNumberfire073
@HowTheProsDoItIndependent0104
@JesseLSiegelRotoWire0121
@TheJourdanCaseFantasy Insiders0127