By Lincoln Shryack

With Halloween still yet to come and the 2017 PRCA regular season just recently completed, December feels like a long way off. But for those of us eagerly anticipating the start of National Finals Rodeo, the best time of the year can’t come soon enough. The countdown to the Super Bowl of rodeo in Las Vegas is officially on here at FloRodeo: less than two months away. Champions will be crowned as the best cowboys in the world compete for 10 days starting on December 7.

While we wait, here’s a look at the five events we’re most excited to see.

1. Bareback

Can Tim O’Connell Surpass His Earnings Record?

The 25-year-old cowboy has been the most dominant athlete in rodeo for the last two seasons, and he’ll look to retain his bareback world and average titles while surpassing the $374,272 earnings record he set at NFR 2016. To that second goal, O’Connell is ahead of his pace from a year ago, as he’ll enter the Thomas & Mack Center with $201,915 already in his back pocket, nearly $23,000 more than last season when he arrived in Vegas. With a stellar 2017 highlighted by a victory at the Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming and a 92-point ride in Garden City, Kansas, O’Connell looks primed to wear the gold buckle and possibly make history once more.

2. All-Around

Tuf Cooper And Trevor Brazile Return To NFR

Three-time PRCA world champion Tuf Cooper returned to the top rodeo circuit with a vengeance this season after missing all of 2016 due to the ERA-PRCA dispute. The 27-year-old has a commanding $34,000 lead in the all-around standings heading into Vegas, thanks in large part to his regular season earnings record in his specialty tie-down roping. But the rodeo star will have to contend with cowboy royalty — and family — to claim his first NFR all-around crown, as brother-in-law and 23-time world champion Trevor Brazile currently sits second in the standings. The 40-year-old Brazile, who missed 2016 as well, owns an astounding 13 NFR all-around titles.

3. Bull Riding

Sage Kimzey Looks For The Four-Peat

After becoming the youngest millionaire in PRCA history and winning his third-straight world title at last year’s National Finals Rodeo, all 23-year-old Sage Kimzey has done for an encore is set the bull riding regular season earnings record of $237,152. That’s set him up nicely for a fourth-straight NFR gold buckle in as many seasons as Kimzey has a $33,000 cushion over second place. He’s the only cowboy to win world titles in his first three PRCA seasons, and with highlights like his stunning 92-point ride on top-ranked bull Pearl Harbor earlier this summer, Kimzey will be must-see entertainment as goes for his fourth.

4. Team Roping

Tight Battles For Headers And Heelers

A mere $265.74 separates the top two team roping headers, Kaleb Driggers and Erich Rogers, while a similarly tight battle is being waged between each man’s respective partners — defending all-around champion Junior Nogueira leads Cory Petska by a slim $995.41. The drama is going to high and the pressure will be intense on these four men, each of whom is looking to win his first team roping world title.

5. Saddle Bronc Riding

Last Two World Champions Duke It Out

Whether it’s Jacobs Crawley or Zeke Thurston, one of these men is very likely to win the saddle bronc world title and come away with two out the last three NFR gold buckles. The 29-year-old Crawley, the 2015 NFR champion, owns a modest $13,472 lead over the defending champ Thurston. The young Thurston was just 22 last year when he defeated Crawley in Las Vegas, and this season has already brought another big achievement for the Canadian: in July Thurston became the first saddle bronc rider to win the famed Calgary Stampede three years running.