COLUMBUS- Ohio - It's official.

After 28 Built Ford Tough Series events spread out over nearly 10 months, it's still impossible to know who the 2012 World Champion will be when he's crowned two weeks from today.

With 5,500 points available at the World Finals, the Top 14 riders all mathematically have a chance. However, much like it's been since the BFTS resumed after the summer break, the most viable contenders are in the Top 6 of the world standings.

In fact, the five riders ranked right under Silvano Alves - Valdiron de Oliveira, L.J. Jenkins, Guilherme Marchi, J.B. Mauney and Austin Meier - are closer to him in the standings than the No. 2 ranked rider was going into last year's event in Las Vegas.

Last year, Alves had a comfortable lead of 2,261 points the day he arrived at the Thomas & Mack Center.

This time, Oliveira is within 505 points. Jenkins is 1,145.25 points back, while Marchi and Mauney are 1,531.5 points and 1,567.5 points off the pace respectively. Meier is 2,077.25 points behind Alves.

All six finished the final regular-season event in the Top 15 of the average.

Mauney was third and Oliveira fifth. Meier was ninth, but a groin injury kept him out of the Built Ford Tough Championship Round and allowed Jenkins, who was 11th, another opportunity. Alves was 12th and Marchi finished 15th.

Mauney covered Smackdown, one of seven bulls vying for this year's World Champion Bull title, for 93.25 points in the final round, while Oliveira, who battling through a severe back issue, rode Who Dat for 87.75 points.

After bucking off his first-round bull, Alves split fourth and fifth in Round 3 when he rode Jr. Powder for 86.5 points to keep Oliveira from closing to within 300 points.

At the Finals, in addition to a maximum of 100 points per ride, each of the six rounds offers 400 points to the round-winner, in addition to 2,500 points to the average winner of the event.

As it is, by the time the riders reach the final weekend the Top 5 could be virtually tied heading into the final three rounds of a six-round event to determine the World Champion and the winner of the $1 million bonus.

EVENT WINNER: 
It may have taken him until the 28th event of the season, but former World Champion Mike Lee has now won at least one BFTS event in seven of the 11 years he's been in the PBR.

Afterward Lee said the feeling of winning is still "pretty cool."

"I'm thankful for everything I get," he said. "It's awesome and I can't even describe the feeling right now."

Lee missed nine events earlier this year with a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

He suffered the injury in Oklahoma City and returned to competition in Billings, Mont. Since returning, he's finished in the Top 5 three times, including his 10th career BFTS event win to close out the regular season.

"I'm 29 years old and I really think I can go farther," said Lee, who isn't thinking about retirement. "The thing of it is I really love riding bulls still.

"I'm staying in shape and working hard to be here."

Lee also sprained his riding hand earlier this year. Despite his injuries, though, Lee trains and stays in shape.

In 2004, Lee became the first rider in PBR history to win the world title and the World Finals event average in the same season. Renato Nunes also accomplished the feat in 2010. In recent weeks, Lee and Kody Lostroh became the fifth and sixth riders to surpass $3 million in career earnings.

Lee is currently ranked 14th in the world standings despite the missed events and has almost assured himself a Top 20 finish for the ninth time in 11 years.

"It's the same thing for an old man as it is a young man," Lee said. "It's a state of mind. When you go at this with the right state of mind it doesn't matter how old you are."

Lee's win isn't without controversy.

Television replays on NBC clearly indicate that he slapped his final-round bull, MVP, before the 8-second whistle. However, the judges missed the call and he was awarded a score of 90.5 points.

His combined score of 349.75 points on four bulls was enough to beat out Emilio Resende, who scored 348.5 points in a 4-for-4 performance of his own.

"God gave me the talent to do this," Lee said, "and He reassured me I can do this."

Cody Nance, who won the opening event of the year and tried to close out the season with his second BFTS win, also had an opportunity to go 4-for-4, but bucked off Lightmaker.com's Rango in the Built Ford Tough Championship Round.

J.B. Mauney put the pressure on all three of the top riders coming into the last round when he rode Smackdown for 93.5 points, forcing them to ride their fourth bull of the weekend.

Lee's win pushed Mauney back to third in the average; in a tight race for the world title that could prove to be valuable points lost in his quest to win a gold buckle.

"It's the same thing for an old man as it is a young man: It's a state of mind," said Mike Lee. 

The following is a recap of all 28 event-winners for the 2012 regular-season:

New York: Cody Nance
Anaheim: Guilherme Marchi
Portland: Jordan Hupp
Sacramento: Margo Eguchi
Baltimore: J.B. Mauney
Oklahoma City: Valdiron de Oliveira
Atlanta: Chris Shivers
Houston: Chase Outlaw
Arlington: J.B. Mauney (2)
Detroit: Silvano Alves
Glendale: Silvano Alves (2)
Albuquerque: J.B. Mauney (3)
Kansas City: L.J. Jenkins
Indianapolis: Fabiano Vieira
Des Moines: Robson Palermo
Uncasville: Lachlan Richardson
Billings: Austin Meier
Nampa: Luke Snyder
Pueblo: Renato Nunes
Tulsa: Kody Lostroh
San Antonio: Fabiano Vieira (2)
Thackerville: Harve Stewart
Nashville: Robson Palermo (2)
Springfield: Cody Johnson
Tampa: Guilherme Marchi (2)
Greensboro: J.B. Mauney (4)
Philadelphia: Austin Meier (2)
Columbus: Mike Lee

INJURY REPORT:
 On Friday night, J.B. Mauney twisted his right knee and sprained the medial collateral ligament when he was thrown from his second round bull. This is a recurrence of a previous injury. He finished the event, on Saturday and is expected to wear a knee brace during the World Finals.

Austin Meier sustained a lower abdominal and right hip adductor (groin) strain during his second round ride, on Friday night. He was questionable for Saturday. He did compete in Round 3, but was unable to finish the event.

Brendon Clark was competing with a right-knee medial collateral ligament sprain sustained during his second round ride a week earlier, in Philadelphia. Like Mauney, this is a recurrence of a previous injury.

Paulo Lima tore the posterior cruciate ligament, in his right knee during his ride in the third round, on Saturday night, and will be out for three months. Bullfighter Frank Newsom also tore the PCL in his left knee when he collided with the fence during the third round.

He managed to finish the event and is not expected to miss the World Finals.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: 
It came down to the final round of the 2012 season to determine the 35 qualifiers for the upcoming World Finals. Jordan Hupp, who returned to competition after missing the past five weeks with a fractured collarbone, held on to the final qualifier position, but with not without being pushed to the brink by both Jared Farley and Jory Markiss.

Farley, who is 36th in the qualifier standings, rode his first round bull and made it back to the first short round along with Markiss, who made a strong move this weekend, but finished 39th in the standings. Markiss was in both the first short round and the Championship Round, but failed to make the whistle in either round.

Hupp, who rode both long round bulls, finished the event seventh in the average and was relieved to punch his ticket after seeing himself slip nearly out of the draw, which also determines the Top 35 riders for the start of the 2013 season.

UP NEXT: 
The top riders in the world will start arriving in Las Vegas for the World Finals as early as Friday afternoon. The event, which will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center, begins Wednesday, Oct. 24 and concludes on Sunday, Oct. 28.

Rounds 1 and 2 can be seen Wednesday, Oct. 24 and Thursday, Oct. 25 on CBS Sports Network beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Rounds 3 and 4 can be seen Friday, Oct. 26 and Saturday, Oct. 27 on NBC Sports Network beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

The conclusion of the World Finals, including the crowning of the 2012 World Champion, will be broadcast Sunday, Oct. 28 on NBC starting at 4 p.m. ET.

Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright on Twitter @PBR_KRC.