Sweet Home Chicago!

I suspect that very few bull riders will be singing the blues Saturday at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

The draw looks favorable for a lot of riders to make the whistle in round 1. There are a lot of bulls out Saturday that haven't seen much PBR action, but are very good bulls, and have proven to be reliable high score producers.

In this type of round, you want to look to the guys who drew the best of these bulls, and that means Shivers, Mauney, Hayes, and Cates. One or more of these guys are sure to be at the top of the standings after Round 1.

JB Mauney's bull - Big Rig - has never been to a BFTS event, but he has been around for a couple of years, and has been ridden 12 times in his career, 6 of those for 90+ point scores. Big Rig belongs to Stace Smith Pro Rodeos, and originally came from PBR bull rider Clayton Williams.

Kasey Hayes drew another bull from Stace Smith: 145 Wild Berry. Wild Berry has been around for more than 3 years now, and has produced several 90+ point scores. He's getting a little older now, but can still be a great bull.

Chris Shivers is matched up with 121 Dark Side from Tino Martinez. Dark Side is an up and coming bull that has been producing high scores. BFTS riders have been 6 for 6 on him, and left handed riders have been 7 for 7. Shivers is both. Plus, Chris has a way of making bulls look their best. Advantage: Shivers.

Reese Cates has a BFTS veteran bull – Crown of Thorns. Over his career, Crown of Thorns has been known to take the occasional day off for some reason, but when he is on, he is really on. Justin McBride has been 91+ on the bull on three separate occasions.

Other bulls worth watching include David Day's 492 T-Money vs. Nick Landreneau, and Martinez's 07 Buckwheat vs. Wiley Petersen. Both are more than capable of producing 90 point rides.