The No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns (13-2) will square off against the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes (12-2) in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Friday in the Cotton Bowl. The Buckeyes knocked off top-seeded Oregon, 41-21, in the Rose Bowl and the Longhorns defeated No. 4 Arizona State, 39-31, in double-overtime in the Peach Bowl on New Year's Day to advance to the semifinals. 

Kickoff at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Ohio State is a 5.5-point favorite in the latest Texas vs. Ohio State odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 53.5.

Before making any Ohio State vs. Texas picks or college football predictions, you need to hear what SportsLine college football expert Josh Nagel has to say.

Nagel is a Nevada-based handicapper with more than 25 years of experience in the sports wagering industry. SportsLine's assistant managing editor has covered the wagering industry on a variety of platforms and has won numerous sports handicapping contests. He's on a current 26-12 run (+1439) on his last 38 Texas picks. Anyone who has followed him could be way up.

Now, Nagel has analyzed Texas vs. Ohio State from every angle and just locked in his picks and predictions.

We can tell you he's leaning Under on the point total, but he knows a crucial X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back. You absolutely need to see what it is before locking in any picks of your own.

Who wins Ohio State vs. Texas? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? ... Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the Texas vs. Ohio State spread to jump on, all from the football expert who is an incredible 26-12 on his last 38 picks involving Texas.