LAS VEGAS – Honestly, there’s a lot going on in Las Vegas this week, but that’s every week.
As far as the Western world is concerned, tens of thousands of industry professionals, bull riding fans and beyond have scattered themselves throughout the City of Lights as the PBR Camping World Team Series prepares to crown a champion inside T-Mobile Arena.
Seeing Challenger Series Champion Alan de Souza take home the season-ending honors Thursday night after surviving a late-season push from young phenom John Crimber, the weekend was off to a hot start.
With several ABBI events taking place within South Point Casino, Hotel & Spa as stock contractors continue to show off the next generation of professional bucking bulls, the sport of bull riding is taking another collective step towards the limelight.
Once the big show got started on Friday night, featuring the best bull riders in the world, competing in season two of the electric 5-on-5 format, PBR Commissioner, CEO Sean Gleason had the league glowing product on display in the heart of the Entertainment Capital of the World.
And boy oh boy, did the riders show up with some exclamation points!
Wasting zero time in getting the crowd engaged and putting points on the board, the Carolina Cowboys and Arizona Ridge Riders produced one of the most entertaining games in PBR Teams history, but it was ultimately the Ridge Riders who moved on, courtesy of an insane walk-off ride from Keyshawn Whitehorse.
When Game 2 rolled around, the fireworks continued, as did the walk-offs.
Rising superstar Caden Bunch stayed hot for the Oklahoma Freedom, as the Cord McCoy-coached squad handed the defending PBR Teams Champion Nashville Stampede a tight 262-261.5 decision.
As the highest-seeded team competing on opening night, the No. 3 Texas Rattlers took care of business in Game 3, defeating the Missouri Thunder by one ride score. But the No. 8 seed wouldn’t settle for an early exit, as rookie Felipe Furlan willed the team to a win during the weekend’s first Last Chance Game, now 2-for-2 on the weekend.
With the Cowboys and Stampede eliminated from competition, fans will get a chance to see the No. 1 Austin Gamblers and No. 2 Kansas City Outlaws in action for the first time this postseason, who both had the opening night slate off, thanks to securing first-round byes during the regular season.
We don’t have a clue who’s going to actually win this thing, but what we do know is that it’s going to be a damn competitive tournament ...
... and that Round 1 was just the beginning.
With the 5-on-5 circuit set to invade Las Vegas, Nevada, for Round 2 of the 2023 PBR Camping World Team Series Championship, let’s take a look at the starting lineups for Saturday night’s competition inside T-Mobile Arena (With broadcast coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. PDT on CBS Sports Network and action beginning at 8 p.m. PDT).
ROUND 2 STARTING LINEUPS
*Denotes a rematch
No. 3 Texas Rattlers vs. No. 4 Oklahoma Freedom Elizmar Jeremias vs. Exodus Joao Ricardo Vieira vs. Kodiac Casey Roberts vs. Smooth Over It Brady Oleson vs. Boo Ray *Grayson Cole vs. JAG Metals Grand Thef Brady Fielder vs. Top Dollar Roscoe Jarboe vs. Buffalo Heifer Eli Vastbinder vs. Lone Star Caden Bunch vs. The Maverick *Daniel Keeping vs. Smooth Steel
REMATCHES Daniel Keeping vs. Smooth Steel (6.36 seconds in Kansas City, Missouri) Grayson Cole vs. JAG Metals Grand Theft (5.41 seconds in Las Vegas, Nevada)
No. 2 Kansas City Outlaws vs. No. 5 Arizona Ridge Riders Chase Dougherty vs. Bison *Sandro Batista vs. UTZ BesTex Legend Eduardo Aparecido vs. Savage Love Kyler Oliver vs. Almost Sober Leandro Machado vs. Hell Storm Leonardo Castro Ferreira vs. High Plains Drifter *Luciano De Castro vs. Ridin’ Solo *Bob Mitchell vs. Kid Knapper Keyshawn Whitehorse vs. Miller Time *Cassio Dias vs. War Daddy
REMATCHES Bob Mitchell vs. Kid Knapper (2.64 seconds in Austin, Texas) Cassio Dias vs. War Daddy (89 points in Kansas City, Missouri) Luciano De Castro vs. Ridin’ Solo (4.02 seconds in Chicago, Illinois) Sandro Batista vs. UTZ BesTex Legend (89 points in Little Rock, Arkansas; 3.52 seconds in Ridgedale, Missouri; 1.58 seconds in Cheyenne, Wyoming)
No. 1 Austin Gamblers vs. No. 8 Missouri Thunder Kade Madsen vs. Pickle Moonshine Dalton Kasel vs. John 14:6 *Felipe Furlan vs. Doze You Down *Rafael dos Santos vs. Trump Train Andrew Alvidrez vs. Dana White’s Twisted Steel Lucas Divino vs. Night Hawk Paulo Eduardo Rosseto vs. Snake Eyes Ramon de Lima vs. Cy Young Briggs Madsen vs. Time Bomb *Jose Vitor Leme vs. WSM’s Sun Country
REMATCHES Felipe Furlan vs. Doze You Down (2.44 seconds in Nashville, Tennessee) Jose Vitor Leme vs. WSM’s Sun Country (92.5 points in Allen, Texas) Rafael dos Santos vs. Trump Train (87 points in Thief River Falls, Minnesota)
FOLLOW ALONG This weekend’s competition in Las Vegas, Nevada, is set to resume Saturday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. PDT and will later conclude Sunday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. PDT as the Austin Gamblers and Kansas City Outlaws look to take advantage of their opening night off during Round 2’s spicy slate.
Fans can tune into ViX and CBS Sports Network throughout the weekend, with CBS Sports Network to begin each day’s coverage with the Inside the PBR Teams Championship Pre-Show Presented by Tractor Supply Co., set to begin Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PDT!
Fans can keep an eye on PBR.com and PBR social media channels for all of this weekend’s latest news, scores, wrecks and more!
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media