BILLINGS, Mont. - Fifteen of the 35 bulls in tonight's round have no recorded history, so this may be the most unpredictable round of the season thus far. Chad Berger has a group of new bulls here, as does former rider Mike White. These will all be younger bulls, and the next PBR superstar may be making his debut.

J.B. Mauney on 8 Pretty Boy:
I don't know anything about this bull at all, but I am obliged to eat some crow for breakfast because Mauney made a liar out of me last night. If you take any competent rider and wrap his free arm up in a big heavy cast, it will be enough to get him thrown off his next bull more often than not. Now, if you wrap his riding arm up in a cast, make him ride with his free arm, and put him on one of the fastest, most agile bulls in the world, well… he doesn't really have a prayer, unless his name is J.B. Mauney, apparently. If Mauney can get it done on RMEF Gunpowder & Lead, he can get it done here.

Jordan Hupp on 310B Angry Bob:
This is a 4-year-old bull on whom we have only one previous out - he was entered in the New Year's Eve ABBI event in Fort Worth, Texas, where he produced he second-highest score of the event. Marco Eguche was 88 points on him there.

Lachlan Richardson on 100 New Face:
New Face has been out five times, and has been ridden twice - at Albuquerque, N.M., and at Glendale, Ariz. He shouldn't be too difficult. Richardson showed the first sign of vulnerability last night - he let himself get set back on his pockets, which is just a fundamental mistake. Generally speaking, proper form for a rider means keeping his back straight, but if he allows his back to get hunched over, he will tend to get too much of his rear end down on the bull's back. Wrangler jeans tend to have the back pockets up high, and thus, sitting "on your pockets" is the common rider terminology for a bad situation. The pockets should never touch the bull's back. A rider with exceptional natural balance can get away with this in many situations for a jump or two, but any bull who has some power will consistently expose this mistake.

Marco Eguche on Mr. Slim:
Mr. Slim may be the best draw of the four Panhandle Slim clones we will see tonight, but only for right-handed riders. He's been ridden 11 times by righties, and never by a lefty. Eguche is one of the best right-handed riders going right now. He got a score last night, and has a good chance to get another here.

Renato Nunes on W5 Buckoff:
This bull doesn't have a long history, but two of the three left-handed riders to face him have earned a score. Chris Shivers is the third, and he lasted 7.01 seconds before coming down.

Shane Proctor on 532 Paycheck:
Paycheck may be the best draw in the round among the proven bulls. He's likely to go away from Proctor's hand, but is rideable either way. In 2010, Travis Briscoe was 93.25 ponts on Paycheck here in Billings. When this bull is ridden, he carries riders to a round win 30 percent of the time, which is a very good record. He is probably past his prime years, but he is still an outstanding bull to have.

Travis Briscoe vs. Paycheck, Billings, Mont., 2010.

Stormy Wing on 812B Spartacus:
Spartacus only has two outs on record, but he was ridden in one of them by Wing - in Kansas City, Mo., just last month.

Kody Lostroh on 84 Megaton:
This is another bull who hasn't been around a lot, but he was very good in Albuquerque with Ryan Dirteater, who took him to 7.29 seconds before coming down.

(Slade Long, PBR Web developer and statistician, has been crunching the numbers on bucking bulls for 13 years. In addition to his regular "Morning Line" series, published just prior to every Built Ford Tough Series performance, Long co-hosts "In the Bull Pen with Cody Lambert," a podcast recorded every Thursday prior to each BFTS event.)