Building the Dam’s 12 Most Read Articles of 2016

Well we’re about a month into 2017 and it’s never a bad time for reflection and introspection, right? We decided to fire up the ol’ Google Analytics and take a look at our most read articles from the last year. What we found was, well, really interesting actually. Take a look for yourself:

12. Houston Rockets finalize Summer League roster. Who's Gary Payton II's competition?

And so begins the Gary Payton II blog that we have become. I want nothing more than to be a fringe-NBA writer that exclusively covers emerging D-League prospects.

11. Oregon State Will Meet VCU Friday

This is an article that seems completely out of place when you put into context what’s happened this basketball season, but believe it or not, less than a year ago Oregon State broke a decades-long drought and went to the NCAA tournament (and then got destroyed by VCU but whatever). Read this if you want to feel nostalgic and can still feel anything at all after how numbing this year’s season has been.

10. Gary Payton II solid in Houston's summer league defeat

All your hard hitting GP2 coverage right here guys.

9. Inside TCU's 4-2-5 Defense

This is an article from 2010 that somehow made a resurgence in 2016. Given the plethora of information that has been put onto the internet in the 6 years following the publishing of this article, I am so impressed with the staying power of the TCU 4-2-5 article. I have no idea if TCU still plays a 4-2-5. Or if they even have the same coach as they did in 2010? I don’t think so? Whatever.

8. Oregon State vs. Boise State: Preview/Prediction

I’ll have you know that this was written before the regular season even started and we predicted that Boise State would win 30-24. The final score was 38-24 and wow we are so good at this you should really be reading what we write.

7. Oregon State won the Civil War... So now what?

This one was written by yours truly. It’s probably the most proud I am of anything I’ve ever written, and it’s also a good reason to go relive the Civil War all over again. You should read it if you haven’t already and continue to hold on to that win to carry you through basketball season like we are.

6. How to Watch/Listen to Oregon State vs. Minnesota

As you all know, the first game of the season was aired on Big-10 Network so everyone in Oregon found out that none of our cable packages include that channel. This article could’ve just been a map showing the location of every Buffalo Wild Wings in the state.

5. Madden 17 Ratings: Brandin Cooks Tops in Speed, Paea is Strongest

We gotta start writing about not real football vs real football at a higher ratio.

4. Big 12 Expansion: How would it impact Oregon State Football?

This is a really really good post and it still holds up. Talks have cooled about the future of the Big 12, but conference realignment is always a possibility. With the changing landscape of digital media consumption, restructuring conferences will likely coincide with restructuring of network deals. Stay woke fam, follow the money.

3. Oregon State Basketball Lands Top Recruit in Oregon Zach Reichle

HELP US ZACH WE NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER.

2. Payton II Continues To Impress In Rockets Win Over Kings

Did I mention we are a Gary Payton II blog?

1. Gary Payton II Impresses In Preseason Debut

We gotta go do some re-branding this blog is now called Building the Gary.