Texas Rattlers faced Oklahoma, Austin and Arizona in Fort Worth
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 28, 2026
Fort Worth stop
The PBR Team Series headed to Fort Worth, Texas, for Rattler Days at Dickies Arena, and the Texas Rattlers got a demanding weekend in front of them. Texas was scheduled to face Oklahoma on Friday, Austin on Saturday and Arizona on Sunday, a three-match stretch that put the Rattlers in the middle of a crowded race as the regular season moved toward its finish. The event gave Texas a chance to stack wins on home dirt, but it also brought immediate pressure because every match mattered with the standings still tight and the calendar running down. Austin entered the weekend one game ahead in the standings, which raised the importance of each ride and each head-to-head meeting over the course of the three days. With 12 regular-season games left after the weekend, there was little room for wasted chances, and Fort Worth became a critical stop for a team trying to hold its ground and close the gap at the same time.
Texas-Austin rivalry
Saturday’s meeting with Austin carried the sharpest edge because it was the next Land.com Texas Cup matchup between the two Texas teams. Texas had won both meetings with Austin earlier in the season, a useful edge entering that round of the series. The two sides had split their regular-season series in 2022 and again in 2023, which had kept their meetings on the Team Series schedule. The stakes also went beyond bragging rights. Texas beat Austin in the 2023 championship, then Austin answered by winning the 2024 title, so both teams had recent proof that the road through the league could run through the other. That history gave Saturday’s matchup added weight inside Rattler Days. It was part standings check, part rivalry game and part preview of what could come later if both teams kept pace. The final regular-season Texas Cup meeting was set for Oct. 25 in Kansas City, and that added more significance to what happened in Fort Worth. Each meeting between Texas and Austin had become a marker for where the balance of power stood, and this one arrived with both teams still very much in the race.
MVP race
The individual chase at the top of the standings added another layer to the weekend, with Austin’s Jose Vitor Leme leading the PBR Teams MVP race and Texas’ Brady Fielder sitting third. Leme had covered 20 of 23 bulls, a strong run that had helped him hold the top spot as Austin pushed for a better position in the standings. Fielder had stayed within reach with 15 qualified rides in 23 outs, giving Texas a dependable presence as it tried to make a move in the second half of the schedule. Their numbers framed the weekend well. Austin was trying to protect a lead in the standings and keep its star in front in the MVP chase, while Texas was trying to turn those matches into movement both for the club and for Fielder. The setting made the weekend more than a three-day stop. It was a measuring point for the league’s two Texas rivals and for the race behind the leaders. The Rattlers needed results against Oklahoma, Austin and Arizona, and they needed them then, because the schedule was shrinking and the pressure was rising with every ride.
