For the first time ever, the PBR is touching down in Florida State University’s Doak Campbell Stadium for the biggest weekend of the regular season.

It’s the one and only Major this year, and that comes with a huge increase in points to the prize pool.

Sage Kimzey reigns supreme, but with this influx of points, the pressure is on to keep his No. 1 ranking.

Top 5 Report

No. 1 Sage Kimzey, 637 points: Kimzey solidified his hold on the top of the standings last weekend in Little Rock, growing his lead over No. 2 John Crimber to 83 points, the largest margin between 1 and 2 at any point this season. Kimzey won his third event and sealed the deal with a 91.55 on Lights Out. He’s covered six of his last seven, with three 90+ point rides in that time frame. Kimzey leads the Tour in Round Wins (5), 90+ Point Rides (5), Ride% (67.86%), Total Qualified Rides (19), and Event Wins (3). He has the opportunity to stretch his lead even further, but he’ll need to be careful, as Crimber is still well within reach, especially with 120 instead of 80 UTB Points going to the event winner this weekend.

No. 2 John Crimber, 554 points: Only 16 points separated Crimber and Kimzey a week ago. Despite notching two rides, each for 87.5 points or more, it wasn’t enough to match Kimzeys masterful weekend. At the same time, though, Crimber has separated himself from No. 3 Leandro Zampollo by 86.5 points thanks to his third-place finish in Little Rock. Crimber has covered five of his last eight, including his last two. He has a 54.84% riding percentage, which is fifth best on Tour. He also boats four Top 3 finishes in 12 events this season.

No. 3 Leandro Zampollo, 467.5 points: Zampollo has been unstoppable recently and continues to make one of the most impressive turnaround in PBR history. In Little Rock, he strung two 88+ point rides together, including an 89.5 on Nobody in the Short Round to finish second for the third time in the last four weekends. Zampollo has covered nine of his last 11 bulls. He has ridden five bulls in the six Short Rounds he’s appeared in so far; that’s the best Championship Round riding percentage on tour at that volume.

No. 4 Dalton Kasel, 435.5 points: Kasel has ridden just one bull in the last four weekends and has caused the former world No. 1 to continue to fall in the World Standings, he is now more than 200 points behind Kimzey in was once a race he led. Kasel can’t afford to miss out on the increase in points in Tallahassee; he’ll have a go at the ridable Wingnut Friday night to get back on track.

No. 5 Clay Guiton, 409.5 points: Guiton continues to rest and recover from his scary wreck in Salt Lake City five weeks ago. Regardless, he’s hung onto his Top 5 spot. Besides Sage Kimzey, Guiton has the highest Average Score (87.58), Riding Percentage (63.64%), 90+ Point Rides (2), and Round Wins (3) despite missing almost half of the events this season.

The Points Difference

At a typical UTB event, a rider can earn 80 points toward the World Standings for winning the event and 28 or 29 points for a round win (20 for the win plus bonus points for an 80- or 90-point ride).

In Tallahassee, those numbers jump to 120 points for the Aggregate winner and 38 or 39 points for a round win. That increased value carries throughout the leaderboard. The second-place finisher in Tallahassee earns 75 UTB points, nearly the equivalent of winning a standard event. Meanwhile, the second-place finisher in each round still earns 20 UTB points plus ride-score bonuses, creating additional opportunities for riders to stack points.

Instead of 167 points being available to the event champion over three rounds at a standard UTB stop, the maximum jumps to 237 points at this Major. In other words, a dominant weekend here can produce a bigger points haul than any other regular-season event on the schedule.

Trending Up

Austin Richardson: Richardson just posted the best ride of the UTB season with in Round 1 in Little Rock with 93.3 points on Ransom. He finished 7th in Little Rock, and the week prior in Bridgeport, he finished 6th. It marks Richardson’s first back-to-back top 10 finishes on tour since he won back-to-back events in early 2024.

Cort McFadden: McFadden has covered a respectable six of his last twelve bulls and four of his last nine. More impressively, though, McFadden has appeared five of the last six Championship Rounds, more than any other UTB rider in that span. He has covered two of those bulls and has five Top 8 finishes this year. McFadden has the best Riding Percentage of anyone not in the Top 10 at 52 percent and has the fifth-best Average Score on Tour at 87.41.

Jose Vitor Leme: The three-time World Champion immediately found success in his return to action since Pittsburgh, covering Dr. Pepper Man for 85.75 in the First Round. Although he finished the weekend 1-for-2, Leme’s covered four of his last six bulls.

Trending Down

Brady Fielder: The Aussie has put together a puzzling season of rides. He’s tied for the most Short Round appearances on Tour with seven, but has converted on a tour-worst one of them. That lone ride was for 91.2 points on Eyes On Me and won him PBR Boston. Last week, Fielder was 88.75 on Magic Hunter for his only qualified ride, it was his ninth weekend with one or fewer rides. Although Fielder remains in the Top 10, his stagnation has created a 300+ point gap between him and Kimzey.

Manoelito de Souza Junior: The 30-year-old Brazilian had an excellent weekend in Sacramento to end January, finishing fourth. But that was over a month ago, and he has had one qualified ride since. De Souza Junior has bucked off his last five bulls.

Callum Miller: Miller had an eventful start to the season like his countrymen Brady Fielder, but has cooled off since. He’s covered just two of his last twelve, those two rides coming in between buck-off streaks of seven and three. Miller hasn’t ridden three consecutive bulls since early January.

Round 1 Matchups to Watch

Marco Rizzo v Pnue-Dart’s Chief Wahoo: Rizzo, who’s covered just two of his last 13, needs to take advantage of the boosted point totals this weekend. Pnue-Dart’s Chief Wahoo’s record is 89-10 and has defeated Rizzo twice on Tour, but if Rizzo wants to reclaim hold of his season, he has the opportunity to make a massive statement Friday Night.

Thiago Salgado v Tchoupitoulas: Salgado has covered a bull in five straight UTB events, appearing in the Championship Round in three of them. Tchoupitoulas was just covered for 88.6 by John Crimber in Little Rock’s Second Round. The bull boasts an Average Score of 42.85 with three outs over 43.5 points. Salgado will have the opportunity to open the weekend for a lot of points.

Kaiden Loud v Hector: Loud hasn’t been able to find the consistency he needs to compete in the Top 10. Hector has been covered three times in its seven outs this season, most recently by Kase Hitt for 86. Loud will have the opportunity to get back into the ride column after going 0-for-2 last weekend.