PUEBLO, Colo. – How important is it for a team to score first in a PBR Team Series game?

Every coach will say every qualified ride is important during the inaugural PBR Team Series season as teams continue to jockey for position for the 2022 PBR Team Series Championship in Las Vegas (Nov. 4-6).

However, in a way-too-early hot take, maybe it is indeed extremely important to get on the scoreboard first based on the small sample size from Cheyenne.

All seven teams that were victorious in Cheyenne were the first to notch a qualified ride in their respective games. During the preseason, the team who posted the first ride in a game won 14 of the 16 games played.

But does this mean a coach should deploy his best rider first when setting his lineup?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Missouri Thunder (2-0) coach Ross Coleman isn’t going to put much weight into who scores first in a game. Rather, he believes a team that can quickly get on the board with its first out, regardless of what its opponent does, will hopefully have a pendulum of success ready to swing its way.

“It is momentum,” Coleman said. “Bull riding has so much momentum, and I think that helps, but no, I think it will change. These guys all ride so good that I think it will change, and you will see teams come from behind and win games.”

Coleman isn’t messing around for this coming weekend’s Outlaw Days in Kansas City, and he will have 2012 PRCA champion Cody Teel leading off for the Thunder against Oklahoma (0-2). Freedom coach Cord McCoy will save his stronger, more experienced riders – Derek Kolbaba and Eli Vastbinder – for the end of the lineup.

During the PBR Team Series Preseason Event in Tryon, North Carolina, Alisson de Souza was the leadoff rider as the Ridge Riders went 2-0. Coach Paulo Crimber explained how Souza beginning the game with a ride led to that same momentum shift Coleman spoke of in Cheyenne. The Ridge Riders will again have Souza in the leadoff spot on Friday for their game against the Kansas City Outlaws.

“Probably the main key is starting the game with our heavy hitter,” Crimber said in Tryon. “Why is that? The younger kids see he’s doing what he did; they get pumped up and say, ‘Hey, we got to back that up. We’ve got to get going.’”

Meanwhile, the Austin Gamblers kept their ace – two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme – in the hole in both of its Cheyenne games. Leme rewarded them by knocking down 86 points on Lil Hott for a walk-off win against the Arizona Ridge Riders (1-1) last Tuesday.

In Kansas City, Austin coach Michael Gaffney will use Leme in the same situation again for the Gamblers’ game vs. Carolina. Cowboys coach Jerome Davis will come out strong with Daylon Swearingen, Mason Taylor and Boudreaux Campbell locked into his starting three.

Regardless of what strategies each team decides to use, the end result desired for all eight is still simple.

The team that rides the most bulls in a game will be the winner.

Now, let’s take a look at Friday night’s starting lineups (8:45 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV).

TEXAS RATTLERS (0-2) vs. NASHVILLE STAMPEDE (1-1)
Brady Fielder (TR) vs. Live Fire
Kaique Pacheco (NS) vs. Whip
Cody Jesus (TR) vs. Drago
Joao Henrique Lucas (NS) vs. I’m No Angel
Rafael Jose de Brito (TR) vs. Cousin Eddy
Fernando Henrique Novais (NS) vs. Forbidden Fruit
Braidy Randolph (TR) vs. Nature Boy
Ryan Dirteater (NS) vs. Cliff Hanger
Ednei Caminhas (TR) vs. Patches
Thiago Salgado (NS) vs. Dagger

TEXAS RIDER TO WATCH: The Rattlers had an extremely rough season-opener and now have further injury concerns with Ednelio Almeida injuring his groin this past weekend at the PBR Challenger Series event in St. Michael, North Dakota. Coach Cody Lambert really needs a rider to step up and help rally his team, and that rider may have to be Cody Jesus. The 24-year-old went 0-for-2 in Cheyenne, but expectations are high for the first-round draft pick after he finished runner-up to 2022 World Champion Daylon Swearingen at the 2022 PBR World Finals. Jesus gets a rematch against Drago, who bucked him off in 6.59 seconds in Indianapolis.

NASHVILLE RIDER TO WATCH: How rare is it for 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco to buck off two consecutive bulls at the same event? Well, Pacheco went the last three months of the 2022 Unleash The Beast without bucking off two straight at an event. Pacheco surprisingly bucked off both his bulls on the final night of competition in Cheyenne, Wyoming – Shake & Bake (3.17 seconds) and Mike’s Motive (2.89 seconds) – but don’t expect him not to get back on track this weekend in Kansas City. Pacheco just signed a multi-year endorsement deal with the Stampede this week, and he will be looked upon to turn things around in Kansas City and help push his team up the standings.

CAROLINA COWBOYS (1-1) vs. AUSTIN GAMBLERS (1-1)

Daylon Swearingen (CC) vs. Apper’s Mind Freak
Alex Marcilio (AG) vs. Surprise Package
Mason Taylor (CC) vs. Casper
Claudio Montanha Jr. (AG) vs. Hawkeye
Boudreaux Campbell (CC) vs. Moon Walk
Austin Richardson (AG) vs. Born To Sin
Wingson Henrique da Silva (CC) vs. Kid Knapper
Lucas Divino (AG) vs. Dark Fantasy
Leonardo Lima (CC) vs. Gold Chain Cowboy
Jose Vitor Leme (AG) vs. Show Me Homie

CAROLINA RIDER TO WATCH: Mason Taylor gets a rematch against Casper in a matchup that could produce a 90-plus score. Taylor previously rode Casper for 90.75 points during his UTB season-opening win in Indianapolis, but he later bucked off Casper (4.15 seconds) in Oklahoma City the next month.

AUSTIN RIDER TO WATCH: Alex Marcilio gets his first crack at being in the starting lineup for the Gamblers. Marcilio is the oldest rider on the Austin roster at 34 years old, and the 2017 Velocity Tour Champion could be a solid depth piece for the Gamblers this season. Austin leads all teams in Kansas City with a nine-rider roster. (Teams are only required to bring six riders to an event).

MISSOURI THUNDER (2-0) vs. OKLAHOMA FREEDOM (0-2)

Cody Teel (MT) vs. Black Ice
Caden Bunch (OF) vs. HomeBru
Adriano Salgado (MT) vs. Oilfield Outlaw’s Yellow Feather
Casey Roberts (OF) vs. Big Black
Clayton Sellars (MT) vs. Stone Colder
Briggs Madsen (OF) vs. Prince Harry
Andrew Alvidrez (MT) vs. Black Cherry
Derek Kolbaba (OF) vs. Pearl Jam
Colten Fritzlan (MT) vs. Chiseled
Eli Vastbinder (OF) vs. Marquis Metal Works Red Clark

MISSOURI RIDER TO WATCH: Colten Fritzlan matches up against Chiseled in a marquee matchup on Friday night. Fritzlan previously won the bull riding at The American in 2021 with an 89.25-point ride on the prized D&H Cattle Company bovine.

OKLAHOMA RIDER TO WATCH: Could Casey Roberts post a second consecutive 90-point ride in PBR Team Series competition? In an interesting decision by Oklahoma coach Cord McCoy, the Freedom are opting to put the 2022 collegiate bull riding champion on the rider-friendly Big Black. The Freedom could have used lefty Derek Kolbaba for the matchup, but Kolbaba is only 1-for-3 against the bull.

ARIZONA RIDGE RIDERS (1-1) vs. KANSAS CITY OUTLAWS (1-1)

Alisson de Souza (ARR) vs. Off Campus
Rafael Henrique dos Santos (KCO) vs. Taking Chances
Marco Eguchi (ARR) vs. Tested’s Viper
Koltin Hevalow (KCO) vs. Big Mac
Keyshawn Whitehorse (ARR) vs. Twisted Steel
Tate Pollmeier (KCO) vs. Cherry Bomb
Ross Freeman (ARR) vs. Black & Blue
Bob Mitchell (KCO) vs. Contusion
Luciano de Castro (ARR) vs. Arkansas
Marcus Mast (KCO) vs. Cowboy Cool

ARIZONA RIDER TO WATCH: 2018 Rookie of the Year Keyshawn Whitehorse draws into the lineup for the Ridge Riders with Eduardo Aparecido banged up. Whitehorse is heating up at just the right time for Arizona and heads into Kansas City following a second-place finish in St. Michael, North Dakota, with a 3-for-3 showing. Whitehorse is ranked third in the PBR Challenger Series standings and is 12-for-25 (48%). The undrafted rider leads the Challenger Series with 12 qualified rides.

KANSAS CITY RIDER TO WATCH: Koltin Hevalow has been tasked with stepping in for team captain Dalton Kasel after the 2019 Rookie of the Year bruised his kidney and broke his jaw and some ribs last weekend at the PBR Challenger Series event in St. Michael, North Dakota. Hevalow is a three-time Missouri High School Rodeo Association state bull riding champion who grew up only 20 miles away from T-Mobile Center. The 19-year-old is one of three riders under 20 in the Kansas City lineup.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media