re: Vegas now favors Texas

if the line was LSU -3 and it moved to pick-'em, it means the book was flooded with TEXAS money. So many bettors wanted Texas +3 that they had to move it all the way down to even to stem the tide and get more LSU money. If you think LSU is going to win, then even is a much more attractive bet than -3. Texas even is much less attractive than +3.

And they don't set lines to maximize profit. In theory, as shown above, they set lines to try to get even money on both sides, so they can break even on the bets and profit from the vig. They can accept imbalances up to whatever extent they're willing to gamble.