PUEBLO, Colo. – Nashville is one of the rowdiest stops, rightfully so, on PBR’s year-round calendar.

And the star-studded PBR Teams: Stampede Days celebration once again raised the bar last weekend, in part thanks to a pair of epic walk-off wins from (7-5) Nashville Stampede star Kaiden Loud.

When it comes to PBR Camping World Team Series showcases which have developed quite the reputation of having a good time, the fans of Moody Center, and ultimately the (6-5) Austin Gamblers, themselves, know a little party never killed nobody.

The area directly surrounding the arena may not go toe-to-toe with Broadway and all that the honky-tonk capital has to offer, but they keep things weird down here. A good weird.

What won’t be weird for Gamblers fans Aug. 23-25 is seeing their team string a couple wins together this weekend, as the team has been rather productive inside Moody Center in the past.

Watching Ezekiel Mitchell walk-off their third game of the weekend in 2023 en route to clinching the overall event win, the hometown supporters were covered in green and black confetti the last time PBR Teams came through. And having fun with it!

Exiting the year two showdown with an event-winning 3-0 slate, it was clear the Gamblers enjoyed riding so close to home.

The year prior, the squad went 2-1, coming up just .75 points short as the Carolina Cowboys kept them from what would be a flawless 6-0 record at home. Instead, they’ll settle for a very respectable 5-1 slate on home dirt.

Having defeated the eventual 2022 PBR Teams Champion Nashville Stampede during their homestand in year one, the Gamblers also beat the 2023 PBR Teams Champion Texas Rattlers last summer. Meaning they are, and have been, well-equipped to dance with the league's top contenders.

Later falling to that same Rattlers squad inside T-Mobile Arena during the final game of the postseason gauntlet, there’s 100% a rivalry between Austin and the Texas Rattlers.

One that will be reignited Saturday night as the Gamblers look to secure the first-ever Texas Cup before what should be an electric crowd. With the showcase consisting of a best-of-three regular season series between the in-state rivals, it’s first to two.

And with the Gamblers capturing a 259.5-175 win over the Rattlers back in Week 2, it’s win or go home for the defending Champion Rattlers. Should the series need a third game, it will take place later this summer in Fort Worth, Texas, during PBR Teams: Rattler Days.

But after going 1-2 last weekend in Nashville, they aren’t going to be looking ahead of Friday night’s matchup. Jose Vitor Leme sits atop the PBR Teams MVP race, now a circuit-pacing 10-for-13.

Dalton Kasel and Kaique Pacheco are around and contributing, yet the squad’s recent five-game win streak transitioned into a pair of losses inside Bridgestone Arena.

One was by just .75 points, to the No. 1 Carolina Cowboys. The other, however, was a 337.75-0 blowout loss to the Kansas City Outlaws, as the orange and black unit blazed their way past the Gamblers in the league standings.

Head Coach Michael Gaffney has led his team to consecutive regular season championship efforts and knows the team has plenty of talent to make a run. More importantly, his guys need to stay healthy if they are to be dancing on Championship Sunday in Las Vegas once more.

That has to be the goal for he, Adriano Moraes and each of the men in that locker room. And if there’s a safe bet out there, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Leme turned as the river card this fall.

The Gamblers are set to host the (4-7) New York Mavericks before drawing matchups against the (4-7) Texas Rattlers and (5-7) Missouri Thunder as the weekend slate continues. So, between the somewhat soft hometown schedule and the franchise’s known presence on home dirt, they’re likely to find some success this weekend down south.

With the Carolina Cowboys and Missouri Thunder getting the opening night off, the Gamblers will suit up alongside the Nashville Stampede, Florida Freedom, Arizona Ridge Riders, Oklahoma Wildcatters, Kansas City Outlaws, Texas Rattlers and New York Mavericks in getting the show started Friday night inside Moody Center.

Fans can stay tuned to PBR.com and @PBR social media channels for the latest news, league updates and beyond. And be sure to catch all of this weekend’s action on Merit Street, the Merit+ App and CBS Television Network as the PBR Camping World Team Series rages on!

JUST THREE GAMES SEPARATE NO. 2 OUTLAWS AND NO. 10 MAVERICKS Fans who have been tuned in to the first five weeks of PBR Camping World Team Series know most games have been damn competitive. Sure, we’ve seen some blowouts and a few no-score efforts here and there. But we’ve also witnessed a tie a few weeks back between the Oklahoma Wildcatters and No. 1 Carolina Cowboys. And just last weekend we saw three games in the same night (Saturday) be decided than LESS THAN A POINT! The drama is here. The close calls have arrived. And with the Week 6 slate set to invade Moody Center, home of the two-time regular season Champion Austin Gamblers, the pressure continues to climb!

While teams should very much be looking to take advantage of their next opportunity to climb the standings (or in Carolina’s case, maintain their lead atop them), a closer look at the official league standings reveals that there are just three game wins separating the No. 2 Kansas City Outlaws and the No. 10 New York Mavericks. Kansas City, currently 3.5 games back from the Cowboys, represents the league’s best shot at chasing down the runaway Carolina contingent, which sounds about right given their three-game win streak and having the honors of rostering 2024 World Champion Cassio Dias.

However, with four different squads rocking identical 4-7 records at the bottom of the standings, that group is collectively just 6.5 games back from Carolina. We aren’t suggesting each of those teams are likely to catch Carolina, but rather paint the picture of just how close teams not hailing from Carolina truly are in the jam-packed standings right now. Throw in a 4-6 Wildcatters squad and a 5-7 Missouri Thunder unit and it’s quite clear the league’s bottom 6 are on the same level as things sit right now. The No. 4 Gamblers, currently 6-5, are just 4.5 games behind Carolina, thus only TWO games ahead of each of the league’s 4-7 teams.

All of that to say teams aren’t likely looking to catch up to the Cowboys as much as they’re doing all they can to make sure they keep themselves competitive for a shot to compete inside T-Mobile Arena. With just the Top 6 teams at the end of the regular season automatically punching their ticket to the 2024 PBR Teams Championship and bottom 4 forced to battle it out for the final two spots Oct. 17 inside South Point Casino, Hotel & Spa, the drama has been raging all season long. Yet at the same time, it’s about to get kicked up a notch here over the second half of the regular season!

CAN NO. 5 MISSOURI THUNDER STAY HOT DOWN SOUTH FOLLOWING 2-1 WEEKEND Over the course of the league’s three 5-on-5 campaigns, the Missouri Thunder, generally speaking, haven’t enjoyed much time ranked in the top half of the league standings. They made one hell of a run during the 2023 PBR Teams Championship, but it was as the league’s No. 8 seed. As things stand leading into Week 6, however, they bring their highest mid-season rank into this weekend’s showdown inside Moody Center, as the squad is now 5-7 on the year and ranked 5-7 overall after going 2-1 in Nashville.

Riding well as a team overall, they saw several different members of the unit draw into the lineup and make the 8 in thrilling fashion. It was a good weekend for cowboys, all things considered, as the tour’s bovine athletes had been getting the best of them for a few weeks in a row there. However, just two riders were able to record three qualified rides at Bridgestone Arena. Thankfully for Missouri, they were both sporting red and yellow, as it was Andrew Alvidrez and Paulo Eduardo Rossetto who completed the trio of conversions.

Rossetto has now exited four of his last five rides with a conversion, going 3-for-4 overall in Nashville. Dating back to PBR Teams: Freedom Days in Sunrise, Florida, (after only attempting one bull in Brooklyn, New York), he’s been successful in six of his last eight outs as one of the hottest riders on tour right now. Officially 7-for-12 on the season, he’s already drastically improved on his 2-for-12 record from last summer as he dealt with some injury complications and failed to look good when given the opportunity. That’s been far from the case in 2024 though, as he currently leads his team in qualified rides while ranking No. 5 in the MVP race. That’s one hell of a glow up if you ask us!

He hasn’t been the only man on fire lately for Ross Coleman’s unit, as Andrew Alvidrez stepped up in a HUGE way in Week 5.

Bringing an unideal 0-for-6 record into Stampede Days, he technically recorded an 84.75-point ride back in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but his team accepted a re-ride attempt as they needed more points to get the win. He wasn’t able to best that rematch, so it was nice to see the veteran officially get into the ride column for the first time in 2024. Left out of the Friday night lineup, he was given an opportunity to shine during a re-ride granted to his squad. And from there, well the rest is history! If Alvidrez can keep his hot streak alive this weekend, watch out for the Thunder to make a second-half run!

2024 PBR TEAMS: GAMBLER DAYS MATCHUPS Friday, August 23: Nashville Stampede vs. Florida Freedom Arizona Ridge Riders vs. Oklahoma Wildcatters Kansas City Outlaws vs. Texas Rattlers New York Mavericks vs. Austin Gamblers Saturday, August 24: Kansas City Outlaws vs. Carolina Cowboys Oklahoma Wildcatters vs. New York Mavericks Nashville Stampede vs. Missouri Thunder Texas Rattlers vs. Austin Gamblers Sunday, August 25: Oklahoma Wildcatters vs. Texas Rattlers Florida Freedom vs. Arizona Ridge Riders New York Mavericks vs. Carolina Cowboys Missouri Thunder vs. Austin Gamblers FOLLOW ALONG This weekend’s PBR Teams: Gambler Days showcase in Austin, Texas, is set to begin Friday, Aug. 23 at 7:45 p.m. CT as the Nashville Stampede and Florida Freedom get the three-day showcase started inside Moody Center.

With competition set to continue Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7:45 p.m. CT and conclude Sunday, Aug. 25 at 1:45 p.m. CT, the fifth of ten homestand events will see the world’s best bull riders compete against each other with just two months remaining until the 2024 PBR Teams Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 18-20!

RELATED: Where to Watch: Gambler Days

Fans can tune into Merit Street and the Merit+ App on Friday, Aug. 23 beginning at 8 p.m. CT to take in the four opening night games. The first three games of night two’s slate, airing on Saturday, Aug. 24, will also air on Merit Street and the Merit+ App starting at 8 p.m. CT, with PBR Now! pre-game and post-game programming surrounding the weekend’s coverage.

The Week 6 “Game of the Week,” featuring the Texas Rattlers and Austin Gamblers, is set to air on CBS Television Network on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 1 p.m. CT.

Spanish broadcasts of all three days of action will also air on TUDN, with night one’s action airing on Saturday, Aug. 23 at 2 p.m. CT, Saturday’s slate airing on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 2 p.m. CST and Sunday’s showdowns airing on Monday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. CT.

Fans can keep an eye on PBR.com and @PBR social media channels for the latest news, scores, wrecks and more! And be sure to download the Merit+ App to watch all of this season’s exclusive action!

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media