Starting with the Alabama road trip, I began viewing other team site previews and score predictions. Alabama fans all had it being 20+ points and being over by the 3rd quarter, and their analysis was laughably simplistic because the goggles were so thick they could not see anything other than crimson. Michigan previews weren't confident, with many feeling it would take some luck to win the game because it couldn't be done straight up.
Ohio folks have been a mix; Tim May is a homer and aggy, so he blows smoke up his own ass. Most try to be somewhat fair, within the realm of what their fan base will allow. They'll state what they feel are the unknowns or Texas advantages but then say they have better talent and back it up with examples that make OH look very good. OH fans strike me as thin-skinned, like aggy but not at their level, and OH actually wins things. Even the article you posted here has the same OH journalistic tone - "I must say something nice to avoid getting the OH fans' panties in a wad".
What fans from other teams need to understand is that, other than Bobby Burton (the ultimate pessimist) and his team, the local media here feels an obligation to shit on the team at all times and in every way they can. Therefore, when others come to see how we're doing, they think we are in worse shape than unbiased analysis would suggest.
Texas fans are more confident than OH fans, who predict a 3-6 point margin, while Texas fans commonly predict a 10-point margin. To me, this is the most telling as to which team has the better chance of winning this game because fans are usually as unrealistic as Alabama fans, but these two fan bases have stated their realistic conclusions. Saturday will now write the story.