Missouri Thunder clinch a playoff bye with a perfect game as Texas Rattlers post a historic score on a record-setting PBR Teams night

Missouri and Texas go a perfect five-for-five as riders deliver a PBR Teams-record 29 qualified rides at Belmont Park

BELMONT PARK, N.Y. — Hang on to your hats, bull riding fans — the Missouri Thunder just rode themselves straight into a first-round bye, and the Texas Rattlers answered with a history-making strike of their own!

Saturday night at UBS Arena delivered two perfect games, a record-setting parade of qualified rides and another shakeup in the race toward the 2026 PBR Teams Championship.

The No. 1 Thunder went five-for-five to beat the Austin Gamblers 437.65–352.25 on October 17, securing the franchise’s first perfect game and a team-record 23rd regular-season victory.

Missouri became the first club to guarantee a top-three seed and a first-round bye in Las Vegas.

Then Texas raised the stakes, riding all five bulls for 443.95 points against Nashville — the second-highest team score in PBR Teams history. Missouri’s total ranks third.

Across five games, riders delivered 29 qualified rides in 50 attempts, a 58 per cent success rate and a PBR Teams single-day record.

Missouri brings the Thunder, Smith brings it home

This showdown had heavyweight written all over it.

Missouri’s Paulo Eduardo Rossetto opened with 88.90 points on Real Deal. Austin’s three-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme answered with 88.75 aboard Outlaw, and the race was on.

Julio Cesar Marques added 88.50 on Simon Says for Missouri. Dalton Kasel kept Austin close with 88.15 aboard King Ding A Ling.

Felipe Furlan delivered 87.95 on Velvet Revolver, while Austin’s Callum Miller countered with 86.80 on Freak N Fire. Missouri’s Macaulie Leather then covered High Cotton for 85.70, and Andrew Alvidrez answered with his first qualified ride of the season: 88.55 on Heavy Load.

Eight rides in the books, and neither outfit had missed.

Enter Maverick Smith.

The Cabool, Missouri, cowboy covered Happy Hour for 86.60 points, completing the Thunder’s perfect card and delivering the winning ride.

Austin’s Sage Steele Kimzey was bucked off Apocalypto, leaving the Gamblers four-for-five.

Missouri improved to 23-8. Austin slipped to 18-13.

“We’re a family. We’re doing good,” Thunder head coach Ross Coleman said on the CW broadcast, crediting his riders’ work and weekly practice sessions.

Texas strikes with a 443.95-point perfect game

If Missouri set the bar, Texas came charging right over it.

Josh Frost opened the Rattlers’ account with his first qualified ride of the season, scoring 88.50 aboard Smooth Movin Train. Daniel Keeping followed with 88.45 on Karla’s Pure Country.

Then Brady Fielder turned up the heat.

The Australian cowboy rode Wicked Solo for a season-high 91.85 points, and veteran João Ricardo Vieira added 89.15 aboard Davy Jones.

After a sequence of re-rides and substitutions, Qynn Andersen had the chance to finish the job. He made it count, covering Blue Moon for 86 points to seal the franchise’s fourth perfect game.

Texas defeated Nashville 443.95–258.50, improving to 16-15 and moving within two games of fourth-place Carolina.

Nashville’s scoring came from Daniel Feitosa with 83.45 on Party Down South, Rogério Venâncio with 87 on Cheap Shot and Alisson De Souza with 88.05 on Without Warning.

“It’s fun to be winning games, and it’s good to be feeling good this time of the year,” Texas head coach Cody Lambert said on the CW broadcast.

Outlaws ride past Arizona and into sixth

Kansas City kept its late-season charge rolling with a 264.45–175.10 win over the Arizona Ridge Riders.

Arizona’s Everton Natan da Silva fired first with a season-high 90.45 on The Kraken, but the Outlaws had an answer.

Eric Henrique Domingos scored 87.30 on Steppin’ Out, Sandro Batista delivered 88.60 on Dragon Slayer in a re-ride, and Hayden Welsh finished Kansas City’s scoring with 88.55 aboard Iceberg Slim.

Eduardo Aparecido added 84.65 on Aggie Pete for Arizona, but the Outlaws’ three qualified rides carried the day.

Kansas City has won seven of its last nine games. Both clubs stand at 14-17, with the Outlaws moving ahead of Arizona into sixth place.

Cowboys stop the skid, Freedom spoil the hometown party

Carolina got back on the winning trail with a 264.80–0 shutout of Oklahoma, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Thiago Salgado covered Strike Zone, Guilherme Valleiras scored 88 aboard Organized Chaos, and Ezekiel Mitchell added 87.75 on Blazin Halos Late Night Toss.

The Cowboys improved to 18-13 and held fourth place. Oklahoma fell to 10-21 after finishing without a qualified ride.

Florida, meanwhile, took the “Battle for the Battle” rivalry matchup against the hometown New York Mavericks, 268.70–91.05.

New arrival Luciano De Castro scored 89.35 on The Heat, making him two-for-two with Florida since his acquisition from Arizona earlier in the week.

Murilo Henrique de Oliveira followed with a season-high 90.10 aboard R Watson, and Vinicius Rodrigues Pereira added 89.25 on Sniper.

New York’s Mauricio Gulla Moreira delivered a season-best 91.05 aboard Dead Red, but it was the Mavericks’ only qualified ride.

Both Florida and New York finished Saturday at 12-19.

The road to Las Vegas is getting shorter

Four regular-season games remain for each club, and the standings are tightening behind Missouri.

Standings after competition on October 17, 2026.

The final day of Go Bowling Maverick Days begins Sunday, October 18, at 1:45 p.m. Eastern. PBR lists live coverage of all five games on the CW beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern.

The championship runs November 6–8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Tip your hat to Missouri — the Thunder have earned their bye. But after that Texas performance, the chase for the championship still has plenty of kick left in it.