Music City Knockout Bracket Revealed

PUEBLO, Colo. – The PBR competition department announced Wednesday the 36 riders and the official bracket for this weekend’s Built Ford Tough Music City Knockout, presented by Cooper Tires.

The event at Nashville, Tennessee’s Bridgestone Arena on Friday and Saturday is the last PBR Major of the 2017 season and is a crucial event in regards to the 2017 PBR World Championship.

The Music City Knockout is one of nine remaining regular-season events before the 2017 Built Ford Tough World Finals on Nov. 1-5.

The 36 riders will compete head-to-head in the bracket-style event until one rider is remaining.

Seeding is based upon the current world standings and the riders have been assigned to compete in one of three different brackets.

The fourth bracket has been deemed a Second Chance Bracket. This region will be based upon the Top 8 individual ride scores or buckoff times from the riders eliminated through the first four rounds of competition.

The eight eliminated riders will have a second opportunity to work through the Second Chance Bracket to earn a spot in the Final Four with the three riders who win Brackets A-C.

*Riders may be seeded higher than their actual world ranking because of injuries to No. 6 J.B. Mauney, No. 27 Troy Wilkinson and No. 33 J.W. Harris

The Top 12 riders in the world standings competing in the event have received a first-round bye for the 36-man tournament.

At the end of this article is a breakdown of how world standings points will be awarded in Nashville.

Round 1 matchups are listed below:

BRACKET A

No. 22 Luciano de Castro vs. No. 27 Brennon Eldred
No. 15 Ryan Dirteater vs. No. 34 Lachlan Richardson
No. 21 Guilherme Marchi vs. No. 28 Koal Livingston
No. 16 Fabiano Vieira vs. No. 33 Cody Rodeo Tyler

BYES:

No. 3 Jess Lockwood (Scheduled to face winner of No. 22 Castro vs. No. 27 Eldred in Round 2)
No. 10 Cody Nance (Scheduled to face winner of No. 15 Dirteater vs. No. 34 Richardson in Round 2)
No. 4 Chase Outlaw (Scheduled to face winner of No. 21 Marchi vs. No. 28 Livingston in Round 2)
No. 9 Joao Ricardo Vieira (Scheduled to face winner of No. 16 Vieira vs. No. 33 Tyler in Round 2)

BRACKET B

No. 23 Stetson Lawrence vs. No. 26 Cody Campbell
No. 14 Shane Proctor vs. No. 35 Nevada Newman
No. 20 Dener Barbosa vs. No. 29 Ramon de Lima
No. 17 Claudio Montanha Jr. vs. No. 32 Kurt Shephard

BYES:

No. 2 Kaique Pacheco (Scheduled to face winner of No. 23 Lawrence vs. No. 26 Campbell in Round 2)
No. 11 Mason Lowe (Scheduled to face winner of No. 14 Proctor vs. No. 35 Newman in Round 2)
No. 5 Derek Kolbaba (Scheduled to face winner of No. 20 Barbosa vs. No. 29 Ramon de Lima in Round 2)
No. 8 Stormy Wing (Scheduled to face winner of No. 17 Montanha Jr. vs. No. 32 Kurt Shephard in Round 2)

BRACKET C

No. 24 Mike Lee vs. No. 25 Gage Gay
No. 13 Cody Teel vs. No. 36 Tanner Byrne
No. 19 Silvano Alves vs. No. 30  Emilio Resende
No. 18 Marco Eguchi vs. No. 31 Dakota Buttar

BYES:

No. 1 Eduardo Aparecido (Scheduled to face winner of No. 24 Lee vs. No. 25 Gay in Round 2)
No. 12 Rubens Barbosa (Scheduled to face winner of No. 13 Teel vs. No. 36 Byrne in Round 2)
No. 6 Cooper Davis (Scheduled to face winner of No. 19 Alves vs. No. 30 Resende in Round 2)
No. 7 Matt Triplett (Scheduled to face winner of No. 18 Eguchi vs. No. 31 Buttar in Round 2)

World Standings Points

Event Champion:  The Head-to-Head Bracket Winner (625 points).  The rider who advances through the bracket system and defeats his opponent in the final head-to-head match.

Ride Score Champion:  The rider with the highest cumulative ride score (300 points)  The rider with the highest aggregate ride score total from all rounds of competition, regardless of the number of bulls faced, will be named the Ride Score Champion (The Ride Score Champion can also be the Head-to-Head Bracket Winner).

Event Runner Up:  The Head-to-Head Runner Up (220 points).  The rider who loses in the final head-to-head match.

Final Four Qualifiers (125 points each):  Each of the four riders advancing to the Final Four.

Elite Eight Qualifiers (105 points each):  The six riders advancing to the Elite Eight in the competition brackets.

Elite Eight Qualifiers from Second Chance Bracket (60 points): The two riders advancing to the Elite Eight in the Second Chance Brackets (Round 4).

Sweet 16 Qualifiers (50 points each): The 12 riders advancing to the Sweet 16 in the original competition brackets (Round 3).

*Riders who advance through the Second Chance Bracket will not receive points or money unless they advanced to Round 4 as outlined above.

There is a total of 2,995 points available at the Music City Knockout.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko