KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Attention has trickled along for Missouri since the demolition of Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. As the football season approaches, the pace of praise will dramatically increase.

We'll know soon. Missouri was a unanimous selection to win the Big 12 North by media representatives in a poll released Wednesday. Kansas was picked second.

Oklahoma was the choice on all but two ballots to win the South. Second-place Texas received the other two.

This is old hat for the Sooners, who won their fifth Big 12 championship by beating Mizzou in last season's title game.

But lofty expectations are new territory for Missouri. Oh, the Tigers were picked to win the North last year, but they started the season unranked and didn't crack the top 10 until late October. This time, Missouri will start with the bull's-eye.

"Everybody talks about pressure," Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel said.

"We don't feel pressure."

In a sampling of preview magazines, the Tigers were sixth nationally in the Sporting News and Athlon's and seventh in Phil Steele's College Football Preview.

Heady stuff, but deserved. The Tigers return 17 starters from a 12-2 team that spent the first week of last December ranked first nationally.

Coaches and players will be in Kansas City starting Monday for Big 12 Media Days.

• Lobos reject $1.8 million for San Antonio game: At Albuquerque, N.M., New Mexico rejected a $1.8 million offer to move a Sept. 6 home game against Texas A&M to San Antonio.

Athletics director Paul Krebs said UNM declined the third-party offer because administrators didn't want to deprive New Mexico fans of seeing one of the nation's storied programs at University Stadium.

"We have to develop our fan base," Krebs said. "Moving the game to San Antonio, I think, would sell out our fans, would be a decision made purely for economic reasons. I think it sends the wrong message to our fans and to our football program."

An unidentified third party approached New Mexico at the end of the 2006 season, just after the school had signed a home-and-home contract with the Aggies, and offered the Lobos $1.5 million to move the game.

When UNM declined, the offer eventually increased to $1.8 million by June 2007. New Mexico again turned it down.

Coach Rocky Long said he believes New Mexico in years past would have "jumped all over that kind of proposal because you're looking for a quick fix." He supports the decision, saying it will help build loyalty.

"I don't see it as a gamble," Long said. "I see it as an investment to further our program to the point that someday it'll be a nationally recognized program with an established, solid fan base."

The Lobos are scheduled to travel to Texas A&M on Sept. 5, 2009.

• Former ASU coach Snyder has cancer: At Tempe, Ariz., former Arizona State football coach Bruce Snyder says he has cancer.

Snyder issued a statement through the university's sports information office confirming that he has cancer, though he wasn't specific about the kind or severity.

In the statement, the 68-year-old former coach said he appreciates the public support, but he also asked for privacy.

Snyder, the 1996 NCAA coach of the year, went 58-47 in nine seasons for the Sun Devils. He was dismissed after the 2000 season despite getting to the Aloha Bowl.

Snyder previously coached at California and Utah State.

• Blair Kerkhoff of The Kansas City Star contributed to this report.