Ohio State vs. Texas Line Opens at Buckeyes -4.5

Ohio State opened as a -4.5 versus Texas for the Friday January 10 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

BetOnline opened this one at Buckeyes -6.5.

Circa initially opened at -5.5 with the line moving to -6.

FanDuel opened at -4.5.

The more telling sign that the sharps pounded Ohio State, Bookmaker opened the number at -4.5 and within five minutes were up to -6.5.

Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes during Ohio State’s sensational 34-point first half, and the No. 6 Buckeyes roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 41-21 victory over No. 1 Oregon in the 111th Rose Bowl Game on Wednesday night.

Howard passed for 319 yards, Emeka Egbuka also caught a long TD pass and TreVeyon Henderson made a 66-yard touchdown run in a redemptive Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed), whose big-game execution sometimes hasn't matched their formidable talent this season.

Ohio State has seized the second chances created by the first 12-team CFP, emphatically blowing out the tournament's No. 1 seed. The Buckeyes scored on six of their first seven drives and took a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter on the nation’s only remaining unbeaten team in the Granddaddy of Them All.

Ohio State is headed to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 to face No. 4 Texas for a berth in the national title game. The Longhorns barely advanced earlier Wednesday, holding off Arizona State 39-31 in a double-overtime Peach Bowl.

Quinn Ewers, who BetOnline is currently offering Next Team odds on, passed 28 yards to Golden for a touchdown on fourth-and-13 to force a second overtime, and Mukuba's interception clinched a 39-31 victory after Texas squandered a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter and missed two field goal attempts that could've won it in regulation.

“The one thing that I know about our group is when our backs are against the wall and when our best is needed, our best shows up time and time again,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “The resiliency that these guys showed today was something that as a coach makes you really proud.”