The No. 8 seed Florida Gators (19-14) take on No. 5 seed Auburn (24-9) in the 2019 SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. The Tigers are 2.5-point favorites, with the over-under for total points set at 134 in the latest Florida vs. Auburn odds.

Both teams are projected to make the 2019 NCAA Tournament field in the latest bracketology from CBS Sports expert Jerry Palm. Auburn is a projected No. 7 seed, while Florida is projected to play in the First Four as a No. 12 seed. That means Florida, especially, needs a little more breathing room, and a trip to the SEC title game would certainly provide just that.

Before locking in any Florida vs. Auburn picks of your own, look at the 2019 SEC Tournament predictions from SportsLine's Josh Nagel. 

A Nevada-based expert and winner of multiple handicapping contests with more than 20 years of experience in the sports wagering industry, Nagel specializes in picking college athletics. He enters the weekend with a sparkling 45-29 record in against-the-spread college basketball picks for SportsLine members. Anyone who has followed him is way up.

Now Nagel has locked in on Florida vs. Auburn, and entered a strong against-the-spread pick that you can only see at SportsLine.

Nagel has taken into account that Florida is on a roll in the 2019 SEC Tournament, knocking off Arkansas by 16 in the second round and then taking down top-seeded LSU on a late three-pointer from Andrew Nembhard in the quarterfinals on Friday.

That quality win might be enough to stamp Florida's ticket to the Big Dance. But Florida has its eye on a conference title and an automatic bid that would remove all doubt. To get past Auburn, the Gators will need a big night on the defensive end. They finished 20th nationally this season in scoring defense at 63.3 points per game.

But the Gators' hot streak through the SEC Tournament 2019 doesn't guarantee they'll cover the Florida vs. Auburn spread on Saturday afternoon in Nashville.

That's because Auburn has been impressive as well recently, knocking off Missouri by 10 and then taking down a tough South Carolina team by nine on Friday. When they're hitting their shots from deep, the Tigers are as dangerous as any team in the nation. They shoot 37.4 percent from three-point range, and that shooting has helped them to six consecutive wins, including a victory over then-No. 5 Tennessee. 

We can tell you Nagel is leaning toward the over, but his much stronger play is on the spread. He has identified a critical x-factor that causes one side of the spread to hit hard. He's only sharing what it is, and who to back, at SportsLine.

Who wins Auburn vs. Florida? And which critical x-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Auburn vs. Florida spread you should be all over, all from a senior analyst who has crushed his recent college basketball picks.