Texas Rattlers reached Championship Sunday after Last Chance win
NXTbets Pro | Published On: November 8, 2026
Texas advanced
The No. 5 Texas Rattlers earned a berth in Championship Sunday by winning the Last Chance Game at T-Mobile Arena with 268.70 points. Qynn Andersen delivered the clinching ride, staying on Mr. Fahrenheit for 8 seconds to secure Texas’ place in the 2026 PBR semifinals. That result completed a four-team field that also included the No. 2 Austin Gamblers, No. 3 Nashville Stampede and No. 8 Arizona Ridge Riders. Texas had to survive one more round to stay alive, and Andersen’s ride gave the Rattlers the score they needed to move on.
The win mattered because it finished the bracket and pushed Texas into the title picture with the sport’s highest-seeded teams still standing. The Rattlers’ total held up in a round built around pressure riding and clean execution. Texas did not need a runaway score. It needed one ride that counted at the right time. Andersen supplied it, and the Rattlers took their place in the semifinal lineup. That meant the Sunday field was set, with Texas among the four teams chasing the championship.
Arizona Ridge Riders
Arizona delivered an upset by beating No. 1 Missouri 178.55-89.90. Elizmar Jeremias led the way with a 90.55-point ride, and that effort set the tone for a Ridge Riders result that changed the shape of the postseason. Arizona advanced to Championship Sunday for the fourth time in five seasons, a run that shows how often the team has stayed in the hunt when the bracket tightens and the pressure rises. The score told the story as much as the result did. Arizona nearly doubled Missouri’s total.
Jeremias’ ride stood at the center of that performance. Missouri entered as the No. 1 team, but Arizona left with the better result and the stronger number on the scoreboard. That upset opened the door to the next round and kept Arizona on course for another Sunday appearance. With four Championship Sunday trips in five seasons, the Ridge Riders have built a track record of finishing strong when the event reaches its final stages.
Nashville and Austin
Nashville also punched its ticket with a result that stood out in the round. Gustavo Luiz da Silva produced the league’s first postseason walk-off by riding Let’s Roll, and that ride sent the Stampede into the semifinal stage. It was a defining moment for Nashville, one that gave the team a direct path into Championship Sunday and added another layer to a bracket that had already turned on pressure rides and narrow margins. The Stampede’s advance gave the semifinal field a second clear storyline after Texas and Arizona had already secured their spots.
Austin later beat Texas 359.30-265.40 behind four scored rides, including 90.25 points from Jose Vitor Leme. The Gamblers won on that scoreline. That result, combined with the earlier outcomes, set the semifinal matchups at Texas against Nashville and Arizona against Austin. The winners of those two matchups will meet for the championship. Each semifinal team arrived in a different way. Texas survived the Last Chance Game, Arizona upset the No. 1 seed, Nashville rode through the league’s first postseason walk-off and Austin won with four scored rides.
