Conference Realignment: Big 12's Beebe First Casualty of Conference Realignment

In the face of so much conference expansion and realignment, the death of many things has been predicted.

First, the death of the Big 12 as a conference was predicted when Texas and others flirted with the (then) Pac-10 last year. That passed over but has resurfaced again as Texas A&M has announced they are leaving for the SEC and the (now) Pac-12 is flirting with those same Big 12 teams again.

More recently, the death of the Big East was predicted after Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced they were leaving and UConn has talked about following them to the ACC.

It turns out that the first true casualty of conference expansion and realignment isn't a conference after all. It was Big 12 conference commissioner Dan Beebe.

ESPN.com broke the news of Beebe being let go on Thursday night:

"In a statement, the Big 12 said its board of directors and Beebe reached a "mutual agreement" for Beebe to leave the job immediately."

As it turns out, Oklahoma appears to be the one that delivered the fatal blow:

"The Oklahoman reported Tuesday that the University of Oklahoma would commit to staying in the Big 12 only if the conference ousted Beebe and added regulations on ESPN's Longhorn Network."

You had to see something like this coming. From the start, the Big 12 has been a shopping mall for other conferences. Nebraska left for the Big Ten. Colorado took off to be part of the new Pac-12. Texas A&M is headed to the SEC.

Then there are all the rumors that Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech and fittingly, Oklahoma, are talking about heading out west to join the Pac-12 to make the first super-conference, the Pac-16.

Whether it's the right decision or not, the commissioner that takes over for Beebe will have to be proactive when it comes to realignment.

The Big 12, specifically Oklahoma, is looking for a reason to stay together, but the new commissioner will have to give it to them.