2024 Underdog Fantasy CFB Best Ball Strategy: Players, Teams, Stacks to Target in Best Bowl Mania

Thanks to Underdog Fantasy, there’s more at stake on college football Saturdays. Known for offering the opportunity to compete in NFL Best Ball leagues, Underdog has expanded the arena to college football. In July, the platform introduced “Best Bowl Mania,” Underdog’s first-ever CFB best ball tournament, promising more excitement and significant cash prizes to keep you on the edge of your seat every Saturday.

With just a $10 entry fee, participants compete for a share of $100,000 in prizes, including a grand prize of $20,000. If you haven’t played best ball before, this tournament features that roster format, eliminating the need to set your lineup each week.

Your roster will automatically include your top-scoring QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, TE, RB/WR/TE Flex, and a SuperFlex position that can feature a second quarterback. The remaining 12 players will be on your “bench,” ready to step up when leading the scoring at their respective positions.

The contest’s pay structure scales with your advancement throughout the tournament, culminating in a high-stakes, 94-team DFS contest during Week 14. Just like NFL Best Ball, where there are a number of strategies, I’m going to dive into the top teams, players, and stacks to target while drafting a squad in Underdog Fantasy Best Bowl Mania.

Click the link below or use promo code RSJ to get up to $250 bonus cash when you deposit!

ELITE TEAM STACKS TO TARGET

OREGON DUCKS

Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks are headed to the B1G and are one of the two best teams on paper in the conference. Transfer QB Dillon Gabriel is set to take over for Bo Nix and is arguably the QB1 to target in fantasy. Over four full seasons, Gabriel has put together 14,865 yards and 125 touchdowns through the air, while also amassing 1,060 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground.

Two studs at receiver surround him, Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson, and both are true fantasy WR1s. Stewart, the 5-star transfer from A&M, is likely going over Johnson in best ball drafts. However, the shifty Johnson led the team with 86 receptions for 1,182 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Duck pass-catchers will get to replace Troy Franklin’s 81-1383-14 from last season.

Jordan James is a top-three fantasy running back in CFB best ball, who will have massive games as the team’s workhorse with Bucky Irving off to the Bucs. James was second on the team with nearly 800 rushing yards and tied Irving with 11 rushing touchdowns last season.

Tight end Terrance Ferguson put up a respectable 42-414-6 last season and should see more targets this season. Best ball players should look to get as many pieces of this offense as possible, even though they no longer benefit from playing in the back-and-forth PAC12.

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

After 16 seasons, Nick Saban is no longer patrolling the sidelines in Tuscaloosa. Instead, former Washington HC Kalen DeBoer will bring his elite program building and electric scheme to Alabama. Luckily, he has do-it-all quarterback Jalen Milroe under center. Milroe threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns, along with 531 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. In a SuperFlex setting, Milroe will be one of the first quarterbacks off the board.

As expected, a handful of players departed when Saban left town. However, DeBoer did an excellent job keeping some talent and adding players through the transfer portal. Highly touted 5-star sophomore RB Justice Haynes will likely be handed workhorse duties, but the receiver core needs players to step up.

Washington transfer WR Germie Bernard and junior Kobe Prentice should be Milroe’s top targets, while freshman phenom Ryan Williams could have something to say about that. Either way, an abundance of targets will be up for grabs for the Tide in a scheme that produced at a high-level last season.

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

The Buckeyes will have a new dual-threat quarterback under center, and Chip Kelly will be calling the shots this season, giving the offense more upside and consistency. Will Howard comes over from Kansas State, where he threw for 24 touchdowns and rushed for another nine in 12 games last season—making him a perfect fit in Kelly’s scheme.

The Buckeye backfield will feature the country’s most lethal two-headed RB combo, led by TreVeyon Henderson and Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins. Although these two will steal touches from each other, Kelly has proven he can feature two-star running backs and deploy them in a way that allows both to put up numbers.

Like Henderson, WR Emeka Egbuka bypassed the NFL and will lead a talented receiver room. Egbuka should lead the team in receptions and will be Howard’s most consistent WR target. However, talented sophomore Carnell Tate and true freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith will be big-play options, with Smith dripping in massive upside as one of the best wide receiver prospects ever.

OLE MISS REBELS

With SEC title aspirations, quarterback Jaxson Dart returned to Ole Miss for his senior season. In 2023, he emerged as one of the best signal callers in the country, amassing 3,364 yards and 23 touchdowns, in addition to eight touchdowns on the ground. Dart engineers Lane Kiffin’s offense to perfection, making this one of the best offenses to target in CFB best ball.

The Rebels will face a challenge in the running game after Quinshon Judkins transferred to Ohio State. However, Ulysses Bentley IV, who recorded 540 yards and four touchdowns in a backup role last season, is the team’s leading returning rusher. He will be joined by highly-touted Miami (OH) transfer Rashad Amos.

Dart will benefit from the return of three top receiving options: WRs Tre Harris and Jordan Watkins, along with TE Caden Prieskorn, who collectively totaled 2,175 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns in 2023. Kiffin also went out and snagged Antwane Wells Jr., the All-SEC transfer from South Carolina, from the portal.

Leaving the draft with a piece of the Ole Miss offense is a must.

TEXAS LONGHORNS

Steve Sarkisian will have another elite offense at his disposal, led by a group of young and talented skill-position players ready to take over a massive touch and target exodus. Quinn Ewers returns for another season and needs an encore campaign after failing to take the next step last season. Due to his surrounding talent, Ewers has no excuses this year and has Arch Manning ready to go behind him, making Ewers a fantasy dice roll.

After Brooks departed for the NFL, the backfield of CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue has 187 Jonathon Brooks touches available. As a true freshman, Baxter was the team’s RB2 last season, racking up 815 total yards and five scores on 162 touches. Blue also showed his potential in limited action, with over 500 total yards and four touchdowns on only 79 touches. Baxter has top-five RB upside, while Blue presents some great value at his current ADP.

Texas lost its top five reception leaders from last season, leaving 242 receptions on the table for its group of talented and young wideouts—led by Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond. The former Tide wideout is one of the best receivers in college football and should be Ewers’ clear WR1. The talented but young Johntay Cook should slide in at WR2 and see a heavy dose of targets, while Alabama transfer TE Amari Niblack looks to take over for the departed Ja’Tavion Sanders. Expect the Texas offense to make a statement during its inaugural SEC season.

MIAMI HURRICANES

The U is BACK (we think)! The ‘Canes landed electric QB Cam Ward in the portal from Washington State. Ward can truly do it all and is one of the best Konami Code quarterbacks in the country. Over his past two seasons at WSU, Ward threw for 6,986 yards and 48 touchdowns while adding 13 scores on the ground. Ward is not only surrounded by top-skill players but he’s also protected by one of the top offensive lines in the country.

Not only did the Hurricanes dig into their pockets for Ward, but they also added Damien Martinez, arguably the top running back in the transfer portal. Martinez racked up 1,185 rushing yards and nine touchdowns last season, making him a nice pairing alongside Ward.

WR Xavier Restrepo leads the pass-catchers after totaling 85-1092-6 last season with below-average quarterback play. Returning WR Jacolby George and Houston transfer WR Sam Brown, both put up over 800 yards last season and are cheaper stacks than Restrepo.

SLEEPER TEAMS AND STACKS TO TARGET

ARIZONA WILDCATS

Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan aren’t necessarily sleepers. Shit, McMillan will be the second receiver off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, I needed to put the Wildcat duo in here somewhere because the former high school teammates have insane chemistry, and they’re a stack you should be targeting if you have a pick at the top of the first round– where T-Mac will go. In only 12 starts, Fifita threw 25 touchdowns to only six interceptions, while McMillan snagged 90 balls for 1,402 yards and 10 scores. Plus, we have Jacob Cowing’s 90 receptions up for grabs.

HC Jedd Fisch stole one of the best running backs in the country, Jonah Coleman, and brought him to Washington, but the Wildcats have two formidable transfer backs in Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Quali Conley. There isn’t a clear RB1 right now, but I’d roll the dice on JCM, who is coming off one of the best running back seasons in New Mexico Lobo history and was once committed to Ole Miss.

KANSAS STATE WILDCATS

Sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson is one of the most electric playmakers in the country, as highlighted by his record five rushing touchdowns against Texas Tech as a true freshman. Some would say Johnson’s breakout forced Will Howard into the transfer portal, and they wouldn’t be wrong. Johnson is an elite athlete, as evidenced by his No. 1 spot on Bruce Feldman’s annual Freaks List, posting a higher SPARQ score than Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts in high school.

Johnson is flanked by one of the best running backs in the country, DJ Giddens, who eclipsed 1,500 yards of total offense and 13 touchdowns. The team lost its top two pass catchers, including Ben Sinnott, meaning that WR2 Jayce Brown will elevate into the WR1 role, and Garrett Oakley appears to be the next great K-State tight end.

UTAH UTES

The Utes offense never got off the ground last season due to Cam Rising (ACL) missing the season with an ACL tear. Now, with Rising returning for what seems to be his 10th year, the Utah offense should be back to its usual self. In 2022, Rising threw for 26 touchdowns and added another 465 and six scores on the ground.

After missing 11 games last season, Micah Bernard should get the RB1 nod in a wide-open backfield. For pass-catchers, former Arizona and USC WR Dorian Singer landed in Utah and will immediately step into the target hog role. Singer was All-Pac-12 at Arizona and will present excellent value in CFB best ball drafts. TE Brant Kuithe also missed 2023 with injury and should be a top target in the Dalton Kincaid role, as Rising peppered Kincaid to the tune of 70-890-8 in 2022.

Drafters will overlook the Utes offense in their first season in the Big 12 after a down 2023 season.

NC STATE WOLFPACK

It’s easy to see why the NC State Wolfpack will be everyone’s College Football Playoff sleeper pick, with real ACC champion upside after destroying the transfer portal. The Pack landed transfer QB Grayson McCall, who spent about half his life at Coastal Carolina, and Jordan Waters, a third-team All-ACC RB out of Duke. There will be nice value on those two veterans, who will be the heart of the NC State offense.

For pass-catchers, Kevin Concepcion easily led the team in receptions last season with 71 while adding a nifty 320 yards on the ground. The Wolfpack also added former 4-star transfer WR Noah Rogers from Ohio State. Rogers is a talented player who couldn’t break into Ohio State’s loaded WR room, but is a nice last-round dice roll in an offense that should be much improved with McCall under center. TE Justin Joly is an underrated PFF darling transfer from UConn, where he will be utilized as the team’s move-tight end. Joly led the country in missed tackles forced with 20 last season.

CENTRAL FLORIDA KNIGHTS

Gus Malzahn went into the portal and snagged QB KJ Jefferson out of Arkansas, who has three seasons of starts under his belt, to be his (very) poor man’s Cam Newton. Jefferson has a rocket for an arm and can also run, with 21 career rushing touchdowns.

Two studs at running back will line up behind Jefferson: RJ Harvey and transfer Peny Boone, who led the MAC in rushing last season. Both running backs eclipsed 1,400 rushing yards last season and combined for 31 rushing touchdowns. Malzahn will find a way for both runners to put up serious numbers.

With Javon Baker’s 52-1139-7 departing to the NFL, Kobe Hudson will step into UCF’s WR1 role. Last season, he put up a respectable 44-900-8, leading the team in touchdown receptions.

There’s some real value in Malzahn’s Knights.