The overall riding percentage has been off at the past couple of events. The pen of bulls here in Hartford is not as high on the difficulty scale as some events this year have been, but any bull at this level is capable of throwing riders off.

Round 1

Austin Meier on 306 Wicked Cool: Meier had this bull in Chicago and came down. He is one of two left-handed riders to have tried and failed to get a score on Wicked Cool, who has been ridden only three times, and only by righties. The upside here is that this bull is worth more potential points than many of the bulls in this round; he's been marked 22 points a number of times on the Built Ford Tough Series.

Travis Briscoe on 7458 Uno: Cord McCoy rode this bull for 86.25 points in Charlotte, N.C., last week. Briscoe is having by far the worst season of his career - he's only ridden 22 percent of his bulls this year, while typically he has been in the 40-percent range for most of his career. He should ride bulls like this every time, and most bulls are worth more points for him than they are for other riders. Every bull at this level is easy to fail on - if the rider doesn't do his part, a no-score can come on the weakest bull here. Briscoe can't afford to continue to slide.

Aaron Roy on 22T/6 Real Legit: Real Legit has only been ridden twice in 14 outs, but he hasn't faced the top riders very often at all. If a bull is truly difficult to ride, he won't allow lower-tier riders to make the whistle. If lower-tier riders make the whistle, the top-level guys will do it much more often.

Rubens Barbosa on 30 Uppercut: We haven't seen this bull on tour since May, but in his career he's been ridden nine times; every single time by a right-handed rider. Barbosa's numbers have been only marginally good enough to stay on tour this season, and this is an opportunity he can't let slip by if he wants to stay at this level.

Brendon Clark on 620 Blonde Bomber: Clark is 39^th in the qualifier standings right now, but he is not lying on the couch at home hoping he makes the Finals. He climbed on more than 30 bulls in PBR competition in August and September. This is a good draw for him - another bull who has been ridden mostly by right-handed riders.

Robson Palermo on 601 Hells Bells: This bull has only been out once in his career. At Springfield, Mo., he faced Joe Hicks and was marked 43.25 points. When Palermo faces a bull who is worth 43.25 points, he typically scores 88 points or so. Even while battling nagging injuries all season, Palermo has put up world championship numbers. He's having the best year of his career. If he had been healthy all season, he would likely be winning it by a mile.

Silvano Alves on 668 Riggin Slinger: This bull has pretty much faced the best of the best PBR riders in his eight career outs, and has only been ridden once - by Fabiano Vieira. There is only one guy riding better than Vieira right now, and that's Alves.

Pete Farley on 502 Chicken Lickin: Chicken Lickin has a lot of rhythm, and Pete Farley thrives on bulls who have a lot of rhythm.

Paulo Lima on 702 A Bull Named Sue: This bull has only a couple of outs at this level, but in one of those outs he was marked over 44 points. In his career, he's been ridden a couple of times by left-handed riders for 88 points, and Lima is one of the best left-handed riders around.

Fabiano Vieira on 5206 Sticker Shock: Back in February, Vieira was 86.5 points on Sticker Shock at a Touring Pro event in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Luke Snyder on 113T Slim to None: This is a bull who is ridden most of the time by left-handed riders, and around half the time overall. Snyder has to feel good about this draw, because he's had a lot of success on the Pages' 113 Slim Chance this season, and 113T Slim to None does sound a lot like that, doesn't it?

L.J. Jenkins on 416 Loudmouth: Jenkins has had a good season, but has cooled down considerably at recent events. He should get back on track with this bull.

Jared Farley on 64 Jellybean: This bull should spin into Farley's hand, which means there's a good chance for a high score here.

-by Slade Long
(Slade Long, PBR Web developer and statistician, has been crunching the numbers on bucking bulls for 12 years. In addition to his regular "Morning Line" series, published just prior to every Built Ford Tough Series performance, Long co-hosts "In the Bull Pen with Cody Lambert," a podcast recorded every Thursday prior to each BFTS event.)