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LAS VEGAS — I've been watching the race for the World Championship in bull riding since the late 1970's, and, while I have seen it come down to one bull a few times, I have not seen a race where two guys spent the whole finals trading licks the way Kody Lostroh and J.B. Mauney are here. They took first and second in the round last night, and the odds are it will probably happen again tonight. Two things have become obvious about these finals: Neither of these guys is going to give up, and those TV commentators aren't reading my articles before they make their picks.

The odds-on Round Five favorites

The two headliners tonight will be tough to beat. For the rest of this event, whichever one of them blinks first is going to give it to the other one.

Kody Lostroh on Troubador:

In this round, Troubador is the bull to have, and everyone knows it. Even the TV guys... Kody has three rides in three attempts on him, and his lowest score is 91.75 points.

J.B. Mauney on Ricky Bobby:

Not to be outdone, Mauney is three-for-three on Ricky Bobby, all over 90 points. Ricky Bobby is a little better this year at throwing guys off, but he doesn't throw off the guys who change clothes in phone booths.

The odds-on Round Five favorites to win third place:

Valdiron de Oliveira on Pearl Snap:

Whoever has this bull is always going to be a favorite. I was shocked that Zack Brown came down on him in Round One, but Pearl Snap looked pretty rank. Cody Lambert must have thought so too, because he promoted him to this pen, which are the toughest bulls here. However, he's run into the real beast in this round — Valdiron de Oliveira — whose name causes every stock contractor's bottom lip to tremble a bit.

Mike Lee on Unabomber:

A great bull that carried Ryan McConnel to a 91.25-point score in Round Two, this should be a good matchup for Lee, who is having a great finals so far. For the record, possums become roadkill by just being slow, armadillos have a habit of jumping when frightened — to about the bumper height of a car, and squirrels will often cross half of the road and then turn back only to be hit, but Mike Lee is the only mammal that has become roadkill due to a cartwheel attempt.

The Round Five honorable mentions

Cord McCoy on Crosswired:

Cord has a good chance to bump the two wonder boys off the top of this round. Crosswired stumbled in Round Two, but he is a great draw for guys with a lot of try because if you can weather the storm, he is liable to jump back under you if you get in trouble. Cord could steal a round win here.

Austin Meier on Far West:

These two met at a Challenger Tour event in Bastrop, Texas, for 89.5 points this season.

Aaron Roy on Mellow Yellow:

Aaron picked fourth in the draft here, and he chose a bull that is unridden in 13 PBR outs over several bulls that are better matchups statistically. Why? Who knows, but he did buck off this bull in San Antonio, so he must like something about him.

Beau Hill on Master Feeds Show Stopper:

This is probably the most unknown bull coming in to the Finals, but he is not unknown to Beau Hill. Beau spent a lot of time in Canada this season and has probably seen this bull go several times.

Ryan McConnel on Rowdy Houdlum:

This bull is a pretty sweet pick in this round and a great matchup for McConnel. He may not be worth enough points to win the round on.

Cody Ford on Mac-Nett's El Presidente:

They met in Billings for an 89.5 score.

McKennon Wimberly on Yellowjacket, Jr.:

Yellowjacket, Jr. has been ridden just once out of 24 times — by McKennon Wimberly in Nampa last April for 90.5 points. He also bucked Wimberly off at Billings — also in April.

The world leaders

Already mentioned J.B. and Lostroh.

Guilherme Marchi on Sting Machine:

Marchi continues to get bulls that are tough to ride. Sting Machine is unridden for his entire career so far.

The 2009 world champion bull race

Code Blue can all but lock it up here with a round win, but if he doesn't win this round, and Voodoo Child, Big Tex, Bones, or Uncle Buck do win it, it will be too close to call going into the final round.

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