BOWIE, Texas - The anticipation continues to build for this weekend's final-round matchup featuring Asteroid and reigning World Champion Bull Bushwacker.

The top two bulls in the world headline the Dickies® Iron Cowboy III at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the bracket-style format will provide PBR fans with a unique event for the third consecutive year.

PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert compared it to tournaments in other sports - specifically, the NCAA men's basketball tournament. In his weekly podcast with statistician Slade Long, Lambert said he matched bulls up throughout the bracket so that both riders in every pairing would face bulls of equal caliber.

"You're using the bull as a tool to beat the man that you're up against," Lambert explained. "You're not riding against everybody. You're riding against one guy."

Long added, "Nobody is going to walk into the final round where Asteroid and Bushwacker are waiting."

Lambert and Long discussed several first-round matchups as well as some of the other potential matchups leading up to the final round.

'Nobody is going to walk into the final round where Asteroid and Bushwacker are waiting.'

Two of the first-round rides they discussed at length were Renato Nunes on Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey and Kody Lostroh's pairing with Palm Springs.

Nunes is a left-hander who likes bulls who come around into his hand, which is what Tennessee Honey is expected to do. However, Lambert pointed out that Nunes can ill-afford to get reared back on his arm, or he'll find himself in trouble.

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey took Austin Meier to 88.25 points in Atlanta. On Saturday, the bull will meet Renato Nunes.

Lostroh's first-round matchup has the potential for a lot of points, but Lambert said that Palm Springs has only been ridden once that he knows of.

He said the bull is deceptively good, and that he looked as though he should have been ridden each time he's been attempted, but the riders have yet to figure him out.

"He doesn't seem to buck as hard as his record shows," Lambert said.

Last year, Colby Yates had the high-marked ride of the event on Carrillo Cartel en route to winning. This year, Ryan Dirteater will have him, with the only difference being that the bull was moved to a right-hand delivery (the gate will open to the bull's right).

White Velvet spoiled Aaron Roy's day in Houston last week. On Saturday, he'll try to get the best of J.B. Mauney.

Of the Top 8 riders from last year who have a first-round bye, Austin Meier's second-round matchup with Train Wreck and J.B. Mauney's matchup with White Velvet are intriguing.

Long likes Mauney's chances on White Velvet, as does Lambert. But making the whistle would mean facing Perfect Poison and Shepherd Hills Tested en route to meeting Bushwacker.

'They're going to get on some rank ones even before they get on Bushwacker or Asteroid.'

Long said whoever gets to Bushwacker will be well-prepared, while Lambert noted that all eight bulls in the Elite 8 are tough to get to the whistle on, adding that the four riders who advance "will have achieved something."

"They're going to get on some rank ones even before they get on Bushwacker or Asteroid."

The Iron Cowboy III is Saturday beginning at 8 p.m. and is preceded by a concert from Dierks Bentley, who will perform at 7 p.m.

Watch the action from Arlington live at 9 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.