Bareback Riding is sure to be one of the more exciting finishes at the 2022 NFR with a handful of cowboys with a real chance at a Gold Buckle. As things stand on September 1, Jess Pope is the No. 1 man in the world, but by just $100 over Cole Reiner.
With that in mind, here is each contender in Bareback Riding ranked into tiers as we head towards the NFR with their World Ranking in parentheses.
Favorites: No shock if one of these cowboys walks away with a Gold Buckle
(1) Jess Pope: Pope has been at the top of the leaderboard for the majority of the season and for good reason. He is averaging a career-best 85 points per ride and has five 90-point rides on the year. On the season he also has 22 round wins. All of those marks are career bests for Pope.
In 2020 Pope finished third, last year he was the runner-up, and if the trend continues, 2022 may be the year Pope claims his first World Title.
(2) Cole Reiner: If the NFR took place tomorrow, Reiner may be the favorite. He has been the best in the world of late and has won checks on 12-of-15 rides in August and was marked less than 82 points just once. (h/t @ProrodeoBrett)
(4) Caleb Bennett: Bennett is heading to his tenth career NFR and this could be the one he finally claims his first Gold Buckle. On the year Bennett is averaging nearly 83 points per ride and has won 13 rounds. He is currently just $20,000 behind Pope and Reiner, which means a couple of strong rounds at the NFR means Bennett could jump to the top in a hurry.
(5) Rocker Steiner: It’s in his name, the kid is simply put a rockstar. He lives for the big moments, evident by his season. Steiner took home first place at some of the biggest rodes including the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, the Riggin Rally Xtreme Broncs, and the Last Chance Stampede. Throw in three round wins at Rodeo Houston and a second-place finish in the finals and it is clear that Rocker lives for the big stages, and there will be none bigger than the stage in Las Vegas come December.
Contenders: They have some ground to make up, but if a couple of things fall their way they will be in the hunt
(8) Kaycee Feild: Feild took a couple of months off after Rodeo Houston, but is still in the Top 10 in the world. When he is at a rodeo he draws a lot of attention, and for good reason. Feild is the two-time defending champion, and although he is $30,000 behind Jess Pope and Cole Reiner, it’s Kaycee Feild we are talking about. If we see another performance like we did at the 2021 NFR where he won four rounds and took second in two more we could be talking about a three-time defending champion.
(6) RC Landingham: Landingham had a sort of renaissance in 2021 after finishing No. 11 in the world. In the two prior years, Landingham finished in 33rd and in 2018 was unranked with injury. Landingham is averaging a career-best 83.56 points per ride and has earned a check in nine of his last ten rides. He might not be the household name that Kaycee Feild is, but he has a real shot at his first Gold Buckle.
(3) Tim O’Connell: Two weeks ago Tim O’Connell would have been in the favorites category, but after announcing his regular season has come to an end to rehab from injury there are too many question marks to label him a favorite. O’Connell will be back for the. NFR, and he is certainly no stranger to competing injured, but will he be able to hold up throughout the grueling ten-day stretch? If so, he will be in the thick of the race, if not, his season may come to a disappointing end in Las Vegas.
A similar situation happened in 2021 with O’Connell ending his season a month early. At the time he was in second place and would end the season in sixth.
(7) Tanner Aus: This will be Aus’ seventh NFR in eight years and he is still searching for that elusive World Title. The issue for Aus, Landingham, and Feild may not necessarily be the amount of money they need to make up, but the number of people they will need to jump to get to the top. If Aus is able to continue his strong riding and a couple of competitors stub their toe ahead of him, it could be a special final Saturday in December for him.
(9) Clayton Biglow: Biglow is in this group simply because he has a history of success at the NFR. He is the 2019 World Champion and has made the NFR every year of his career. Most people would not be able to jump eight athletes and makeup $around $40,000, but Biglow may just be one of the few capable.
Needs Help: This group has had a solid season, and may very well take a few rounds between the group of them, but they will need a lot of help to end up in the No. 1 spot come December 10.
(10) Cole Franks: Franks, much like Biglow has shown strong performances at the NFR. Last season he finished in third place and placed in seven rounds at the NFR, including two second-place finishes and four third-place finishes. As he sits now, he will need another year at the NFR like 2021 but will need to sprinkle in a round win or two to make those at the top feel the pressure.
(11) Garrett Shadbolt: Shadbolt has taken some time off over the last month, but before that he was on fire, winning Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo and the Dodge City Roundup. Don’t be surprised to see Shadbolt get his first NFR Round Win in 2022.
(13) Tilden Hooper: Hooper has had a disappointing 2022 campaign after a great season in 2021. He has been better of late, including going 90 points on Virgil to win the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo. Hooper has the most star power of this group and could go on a run at the NFR, but it will take more than just a little help for him to enter the top five this season.
(12) Leighton Berry: Berry is heading to his second career NFR at the age of 23 and will gain more valuable experience to use down the road in his career. At the 2020 NFR Berry took second place in rounds two, three, and four, something he will hope to improve upon at the 2022 NFR.
On the Bubble: Right now these four are focused on making the NFR, anything more than that is icing on the 2022 rodeo season cake.
(14) Chad Rutherford: Rutherford is at $86,283 earned on the year which is inside the bubble by $3,000. He made his first and only career NFR appearance in 2020 where he placed in three rounds.
(15) Orin Larsen: Larsen has earned $85,636on the season and is around $2,000 ahead of Ty Breuer in 16th place. Larsen has not competed since mid-August in Canby.
(16) Ty Breuer: Breuer is probably getting sick of life on the bubble. He has finished the season between 19 and 12 each of the last seven seasons with four NFR qualifications in that span.
(17) Wyatt Denny: Denny made three consecutive NFRs between 2016 and 2018 and is looking to start a new streak.
