PUEBLO, Colo. – With the world’s largest gold buckle up for grabs at the end of the upcoming weekend, it’s officially time for riders, and teams, to see what they’re made of.

Beginning Friday night with the final matchup of opening night action at this year's 2023 PBR Teams Championship!

Despite sharing matching records with the No. 1 Austin Gamblers and No. 3 Oklahoma Freedom last year at 16-12, the No. 2 Texas Rattlers were able to enjoy the first night off during last year’s season-ending gauntlet inside T-Mobile Arena, securing the first-round bye over Oklahoma via a tie-breaking scenario.

But when all eight teams from the 5-on-5 tour prepare to invade Las Vegas, Nevada, for three days of PBR Camping World Team Series action Oct. 20-22, the Rattlers will be thrust right into action after finishing the regular season ranked third overall.

Ending the regular season with an identical 16-12 record, the Rattlers came up just two wins short of securing a first-round bye this time around. With the Gamblers turning in a league record-breaking 19-9 record, combined with the Outlaws going 18-10 this season, Texas will now face off with the No. 8 Missouri Thunder, who managed just an 8-20 slate this season.

“We wanted to get the (first-round) bye again this year. We didn’t win enough games to get it, but we’ll deal with what we’ve got,” Ratters Head Coach Cody Lambert shared leading into the postseason.

“If you ask guys sometimes if they are happy that they’re in second place and they say ‘Yes,’ they’re just lying to you because they haven’t won as much as they wanted to win. I wanted our guys to win everything they can because I want them to be in that frame of mind. It also leads to more money for the guys, more money for team owners, so anybody that wants to tell you they are happy that they made less money is just lying.”

Getting a better understanding of what the end-game action tastes like after advancing to the final Championship Sunday of the season, Lambert and company aren’t looking to settle for a Top 4 finish this year.

They’re heading to Las Vegas with plans of winning it all.

RELATED: 2023 PBR Teams Championship Bracket

“I feel confident that we’re going to ride all five just damn near every time and then we don’t, just damn near every time,” Lambert shared with a laugh, an ode to how many times his team has been able to successfully record four rides within a game this season while also leaning into his actual belief in his team being able to go 100% every time they step on the dirt. 

“We’re happy when we win and we’re sad when we lose. We go back to the locker room, even when we’re happy, thinking we should’ve ridden more bulls. And we definitely go back knowing we can ride more bulls when we aren’t happy.”

Across the chutes, a Thunder team which is very much in this thing for the long run.

Often referred to as the organization taking the “dynasty” approach by drafting and developing young riders with the goal of assembling a deep, talented squad, eventually capable of winning it all, coaches Ross Coleman and Luke Snyder know they’ll be a force to be reckoned with sooner than later.

After seeing some elite flashes from youngsters Joao Lucas Campos and Kade Madsen, whom the Thunder drafted No. 3 and No. 4 overall, respectively, during the 2023 PBR Teams Draft in Fort Worth, Texas, that competitive window could open sooner than expected for Missouri.

As soon as Friday night, if they play their cards right.

“That’s the story right? Everybody tells us Nashville did it,” Missouri’s Luke Snyder offered.

"If we have a game like we did at our home event in Ridgedale where we rode three bulls and had a 90 in there … I think if we come out swinging like that and advance, the amount of confidence and momentum it’ll give these guys … If we can get by Friday night and get on a roll, we could be unstoppable.”

While the defending 2022 PBR Teams Champion Nashville Stampede were able to lean on its experienced group of veterans, including World Champions in Kaique Pacheco, Silvano Alves and company (who are practically as close as family in their own right), the Thunder will look to rely on a bit of brotherly love, now that Kade gets to hang around his older brother, Briggs Madsen.

RELATED: Injury-plagued Nashville Stampede not counting themselves out of a second consecutive PBR Teams Championship

Looking back at things, Missouri signing the former Oklahoma Freedom rider may have been one of the team’s most impactful transactions to date.

“I think Briggs is coming into his own. We’re really impressed with Briggs and he’s going to be a start in Vegas for us. He and his brother obviously feed off each other, so we’re going to have those two guys in there. We feel like that bond and that duo is going to hopefully perform well for us out there,” Snyder offered.

“Kade was always sneaking down to Oklahoma’s locker room to be with his brother, and they always hang out during the week, so it was only natural that we tried to get him for that. We try to keep them separated in the lineup. One of them goes first and one of them goes last so that they can both be there for each other. I’ve seen a demeanor change in Kade a little bit because he’s settled in. We’re putting him in big boy situations and we have to keep reminding ourselves how young he is. We want to take care of him in the best way possible, but I also know how fully capable he is to success in those situations. He’s settled in more with his big brother around.”

As confident as Snyder is in his group, he recognized the fact that the Rattlers aren’t afraid of running up quite the game score, when needed (which is always, if you ask their coach!)

“Texas is going to be extremely tough, but we’ve beat them before. It’s not going to be a one-ride game where somebody’s 87 and somebody’s 86. It’s going to be a three bull per-team shootout I’m pretty sure, so we’re going to have to ride three-plus to beat them,” he said.  

“We’re just telling them that it was one hell of a season, that was tough on us all. But we get a clean slate. You just have to remember that when you were eight or nine, a kid, it was always about Las Vegas, so you need to lay it all on the line and there’s no looking at the ground. There’s nothing but try until the whistle blows.”

With the 2023 PBR Camping World Team Series set to conclude inside T-Mobile Arena Oct. 20-22, PBR.com is breaking down each first-round matchup, beginning with the No. 3 Texas Rattlers taking on the No. 8 Missouri Thunder!

Regular Season Record: Texas (16-12) | Missouri (8-20) Regular Season Qualified Rides: Texas (56) | Missouri (26) Regular Season Ride Percentage: Texas (56-for-140: 40%) | Missouri (28-for-140: 20%) Regular Season Rides Per Game Average: Texas (2) | Missouri (1) Regular Season Series: Texas (2-2) | Missouri (2-2)

Meeting each other four times throughout the 2023 campaign, Texas and Missouri split the regular season series 2-2. An important note for the Thunder this weekend: The two games this season in which they produced a qualified ride resulted in the team defeating the Rattlers. However, in their two losses this season, they were blanked. It’s not rocket science to understand the winning team on Friday will indeed need at least one ride, but with two wins over the No. 3 already under their belts, Missouri knows they’re capable of getting the job done. Meanwhile for the Rattlers, who have produced as many 0-ride games as they have 4-ride games, will need to put those zeroes in the rearview and do what they came to do: ride bulls. With Texas coming off a perfect 3-0 homestand, combined with a 175.5-0 victory over Missouri the last time the squads met, are they primed to go 5-for-5 in the first round? Aug. 27: 86.25-0 (Texas W) Sept. 16: 264.5-89 (Missouri W) Sept. 24: 88.25-85.75 (Missouri W) Sept. 29: 175.5-0 (Texas W)

Team MVP: Texas (Joao Ricardo Viera) | Missouri (Kade Madsen) Entering this weekend’s 2023 PBR Teams Championship, the Texas Rattlers have three cowboys riding at an even 50%, but none of them have been as dominant as Joao Ricardo Vieira. Finishing his second regular season with the Rattlers courtesy of a favorable 12-for-24 record, he’s won $115,500 during this year’s slate after leading his squad in qualified rides and clutch performances. Perhaps one of the streakiest, yet talented riders on tour, JRV managed to meet the 8 in six consecutive outs early on for Texas, but with just one guaranteed opportunity in the playoffs, will the storied veteran be able to set the tone for Texas?

RELATED: First-round matchups for 2023 PBR Teams Championship finalized as regular season concludes

Cassio Dias may have done his best in attempting to steal the 2023 MVP honors from Jose Vitor Leme en route to earning the 2023 PBR Teams Rookie of the Year title, but Dias is far from the only first-year rider who’s stormed onto the 5-on-5 scene with an exclamation mark. Able to pace his team in qualified rides during his rookie season, the No. 4 overall selection in the 2023 PBR Teams Draft in Kade Madsen has exceeded expectations during his inaugural go (and trust us, expectations for the youngster were high to begin with!) Concluding his first season working alongside Luke Snyder and Ross Coleman, Madsen turned in a 7-for-24 showcase (29.2%). Primed to help Missouri write a Cinderella Story of their own this weekend, he’s set to provide his team with all of the momentum in the world if he can exit Friday night’s matchup with a qualified ride.

Game 3 Outlook: As we’ve come to know and love while the 5-on-5 tour continues to amaze fans near and far, any given team has the opportunity to win on any given night. Equipped with one of the deepest lineups in the league, including the likes of Brady Fielder (11-for-26), Braidy Randolph (9-for-22, Brady Oleson (8-for-16), Daniel Keping (6-for-18), Cody Jesus (4-for-7)and beyond (not to mention JRV), Texas has plenty of top-tier weapons to dispatch and match accordingly once Lambert hears word of his team’s first-round bull pen. Add in a few wild cards like Trace Redd (3-for-6) and the recently acquired Eli Vastbinder (1-for-3) and it’s not hard to understand why Fort Worth’s home team have championship aspirations.

As far as the Thunder go, they’ll need to see some strides of improvement from their collective pack of riders if they’re going to pull off the first-round upset. But with a few injuries factoring in, and a bit of a righty/lefty conversation potentially dictating who will make Friday night’s starting lineup, Missouri will need some fresh faces in Briggs Madsen (3-for-9) and Andy Bohl (1-for-2) to step up to the plate while Kade Madsen, Joao Lucas Campos (5-for-18) Felipe Furlan (4-for-22) and Andrew Alvidrez (4-for-17) attempt to do the heavy lifting. It would be surprising to see the No. 8 seed upset the No. 3 contender during the third game of the weekend, but even if they end up falling to the Rattlers, they’ll have one more opportunity to keep their championship hopes alive courtesy of Friday’s Last Chance Game, as the losers from Game 1, 2 and 3 will compete head-to-head, with just one team earning the right to continue riding on Saturday, Oct. 21!

Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media