The Cinch Playoffs are ProRodeo’s last shot at the National Finals Rodeo—and the points race to get there is already down to fractions with Josie Conner setting the pace.
Eight automatic tickets to Sioux Falls are up for grabs, and right now less than two-tenths of a point separates the woman holding the last one from the woman chasing it.
What Are the Cinch Playoffs—and Why It Matters
The Cinch Playoffs are ProRodeo’s season-ending showcase, built entirely around the fight for the National Finals Rodeo. The finale—the Governor’s Cup—lands at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sept. 25-27, with more than a $1.5 million purse spread across all eight events.
For breakaway, it’s a rare full-value stage. The Governor’s Cup pays equally across every event, a courtesy most rodeos still don’t extend to the cowgirls. With the regular season closing Sept. 30, a big week in Sioux Falls can be the difference between a top-15 world standing and staying home in December.
Getting there isn’t about money, it’s about points. Their is a set of rodeos each season marked as the Playoff Series, a standings track that runs alongside the regular world standings but keeps its own separate scoreboard. Placings at those designated rodeos earn points, and that points race builds toward two season-ending stops: the Puyallup Rodeo at the Washington State Fair (Sept. 10-13), which runs as a wild-card round, and the Governor’s Cup itself.
The math on qualifying
The top eight in final Playoff Series points get an automatic spot into Sioux Falls. The other four spots in the 12-woman field go to whoever tops Puyallup. That gives a cowgirl the chance to rope her way into the Cup even without the season points to get there outright.
Where It Sits Right Now
Conner’s cushion is real, but the real fight is at the bottom of the automatic cut line. Danielle Lowman is holding the No. 8 spot—the last automatic berth—by all of 0.13 points over Sawyer Gilbert. That’s a single tie-breaker rodeo from flipping.
| Place | Athlete | Points |
| 1 | Josie Conner | 801.93 |
| 2 | Bradi Good | 700.63 |
| 3 | Haiden Thompson | 691.19 |
| 4 | Cheyanne McCartney | 689.97 |
| 5 | Jordi Edens-Mitchell | 680.62 |
| 6 | Cadee Williams | 644.86 |
| 7 | Beau Peterson | 589.99 |
| 8 | Danielle Lowman | 575.88 |
| — Automatic Governor’s Cup cut line (top 8) — 0.13 points separate No. 8 from No. 9 — | ||
| 9 | Sawyer Gilbert | 575.75 |
| 10 | Hali Williams | 554.98 |
| 11 | Amy Ohrt | 540.10 |
| 12 | Jordan Jo Hollabaugh | 539.64 |
| 13 | Rylee A. George | 524.84 |
| 14 | Taylor Munsell | 523.54 |
| 15 | Jill Tanner | 507.13 |
| 16 | Martha Angelone | 484.82 |
What’s Left to Decide
The Playoff Series books close Monday, Aug. 24, with points still up for grabs at Caldwell, Idaho; Canby, Oregon; Gooding, Idahoa, and Moses Lake, Washington, before that date. Anyone within striking distance of Lowman’s No. 8 spot has three-plus weeks of rodeo left to make a move—and anyone below the cut line is playing for one of the four Puyallup berths instead.
Worth watching
Keep an eye how much the gap tightens between now and Aug. 24, and whether Puyallup’s top four end up overlapping with names already inside the top eight, which would bump the next standings finishers into the Governor’s Cup field.
