The Morning Line – Nashville Day 2

By: Slade Long
August 18, 2018

Bracket A

Cooper Davis on The Don vs. Koal Livingston on Hydrastar Slinger Jr.

This is the toughest pairing of round three. No matter which riders drew in here they would both be underdogs against these two bulls. The Don is 21-0 against right handed riders and 42-4 overall in his career and on paper he’s the easier bull over Slinger Jr. Both riders here are competent, but Davis is by far the more seasoned warrior and that gives him a slight edge.

Fabiano Vieira on Hitman vs. Colten Jesse on Hedoo:

Jesse advanced this far without riding either of his first two bulls. That will have to change here if he wants to advance to the quarter final round of eight. Vieira is almost certain to get a qualified ride on Hitman, a bull who has been ridden past seven seconds in six of his last six outs. Jesse can possibly outscore Vieira on Hedoo, but Hedoo is the more difficult of these two bulls.

Bracket B

Tanner Byrne on Lightning Before Thunder vs. JB Mauney on Big Black:

Byrne may be eliminated here because of luck of the draw, which is not usually a big factor at the PBR Premier level. He has a good draw and he has a chance at a qualified ride and a decent score, but even if he pulls that off he probably gets beat by Mauney nine times out of ten given this same scenario. Big Black happens to be the best possible bull that Mauney could draw in all of the PBR with the possible exception of Bruiser. He’s a perfect fit for Mauney’s style, and ever since he made his debut on the big stage carrying Luciano de Castro to a 90.5 point score at last year’s Velocity Finals, people have been anticipating this matchup.   Mauney won’t get a Bruiser type score here, but he will almost certainly be 89-91 points and I’m not sure Byrne can match that. Byrne’s best chance is for Mauney to slip up, and that almost never happens on a bull that fits him this well. Mauney has fallen to bulls that are well beneath his ability and bulls that don’t particularly play to his strengths, but if Big Black has his day and bucks Mauney off it will shock everyone behind the chutes starting with Cody Lambert.

Guilherme Marchi on Catfish John vs Claudio Montanha on South Texas Gangster:

This is really a similar situation to the other B bracket matchup. Montanha has a good shot at getting a score here, but he’s up against a slightly better bull who happens to be the perfect fit for his opponent. Catfish John has delivered nine round winning scores in nineteen qualified rides. That’s a lot, considering most of his outs are at the PBR’s Premier level of competition. He delivered a round win and clinched a World Title for Cooper Davis at the World Finals in 2016. He’s also a far better fit for right-handed riders, and to top it off Marchi has ridden him before, although it was five years ago. If Marchi doesn’t stub his toe here he moves on.

Bracket C

Nathan Burtenshaw on Soup in a Group vs. Cody Teel on Shownuff:

Cody Teel dodged a bullet last night. He bucked off last night in 1.85 seconds but still advanced. He is the clear favorite in this matchup. He’s the stronger rider and has the stronger of the two bulls, but Shownuff is a much better fit for him than Soup in a Group is for Burtenshaw. Shownuff is ridden fairly often, but he has some high profile buckoffs. He can have some forward movement and makes it hard for riders to keep their weight forward, but Teel’s number one strength as a rider is countering bulls that try to get him raised up or leaned back. Teel is very similar to JW Harris in that he gambles on staying too far forward and when a bull gets him it’s usually by getting him over the front end.

Luciano de Castro on Anthrax vs. Jess Lockwood on Smooth Air:

This is the most even matchup in the round. Both riders have a chance to get a qualified ride, but neither of these bulls are easy. Lockwood is the more decorated rider of the two, but Castro’s career numbers show he can compete with Lockwood head to head. Lockwood may have a slight edge because he’s the more aggressive rider of the two and he’s better at recovering from mistakes, but he’s coming off a buckoff last night where Castro is coming off a qualified ride in round 2.

Second Chance Bracket:

We don’t know what riders will be in it yet, but as usual this bracket is filled with some of the tougher bulls at the event. There isn’t an easy path through it. No matter where a rider draws into it he will have to face some very hard to ride bulls to get to the semifinal round.

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