BOWIE, Texas - In his weekly podcast, PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert said this week's Built Ford Tough Series stop in Sacramento, Calif., was like having two separate events in one.

In addition to the first long round, Saturday night will also feature the first in a series of PBR 15/15 Bucking Battles. The regular-format event concludes with the final two rounds on Sunday afternoon.

The matchup of the Top 15 bulls and Top 15 riders replaces the first short round, and can be seen Sunday afternoon at 1:30 ET on NBC, while the conclusion to the Ariat Invitational will air later that day on CBS Sports Network.

"The whole thing is stars. Bull riding stars getting on the best bulls around."

Lambert pointed out that the Top 15 bulls are the best bulls available to compete on the West Coast, and that a few others would have been in there, but are slated to compete in the Built Ford Tough Championship Round next week in Baltimore.

Asteroid headlines the battle this week at the Power Balance Pavilion.

Other top-ranked bulls include Buckey, who outscored Asteroid last week in Portland, Ore., and Smackdown.

"The whole thing is stars," Lambert said. "Bull riding stars getting on the best bulls around."

In addition to Silvano Alves getting on Asteroid and Valdiron de Oliveira matching up against Buckey, Lambert also noted Guilherme Marchi's matchup with Smackdown as well as Austin Meier's with Shepherd Hills Trapper.

The special round is strong enough that the first man out and the last to qualify was 2010 World Champion Renato Nunes.

"It's going to be good," Lambert said.

"The reason we're doing this is we have eight network shows where we wouldn't be able to show all 40 riders and tell the whole story, so we're kind of building a series for these network shows."

This is the only time in the series in which Lambert ranked the bulls. They are seeded into their spots and will match up with the corresponding rider from the world standings, using the Top 10 from 2011, and the Top 5 from 2012 who are not already in from last year's final standings.

In subsequent events, the bulls will be randomly paired with the Top 15 riders from the 2012 standings the preceding week.

Lambert explained hypothetically that it will allow riders to know that in a particular week, "if I ride this bull to move up to third place, I'll have RMEF Gunpowder & Lead," for example.

"These events are going to be pretty exciting to watch," Lambert said. "It's on NBC this week and the rest of them are on CBS."

The remaining events include Albuquerque, N.M.; Indianapolis; Uncasville, Conn.; Billings, Mont.; Boise, Id.; and Pueblo, Colo. Two other events will be named in the second half of the BFTS.

PBR statistician Slade Long, who co-hosts Lambert's weekly podcast, noted that riders have an added financial incentive to qualify for the round. While a regular go-round pays $3,580 to the winner, and the short rounds and championship rounds pay $4,700, this particular round pays $7,000 to the winning rider.

"The reason we're doing this is we have eight network shows where we wouldn't be able to show all 40 riders and tell the whole story, so we're kind of building a series for these network shows."

Lambert also added that the points, which count toward the world standings but not the event, are double what they normally are.

"These are the guys who do have a World Championship on their mind," Lambert said, "and it's riding the bulls they have to be able to ride to be considered a World Champion.

"It's going to be great stuff, and it's going to make our network shows - when we have a network show - people who tune in are going to get to know the top riders in the PBR and they're going to get to see the ones that are going for a World Championship. And it doesn't take away from our live show, because they'll get to see these great bull riders ride twice that night."

Lambert added, "It doesn't take away from our event because this is a totally separate contest. It's a pretty good way to do it, and I think we're going to be doing it for years to come, because I think this event is something where our sport can really tell the story about the PBR, who the athletes are and who the bulls are."

During their conversation, Lambert and Long also discussed the various matchups from the PBR 15/15 Bucking Battle.

The Podcast can be heard in its entirety here.