SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Cinch Playoffs Governor’s Cup rodeo starts Thursday in Sioux Falls and there is a lot on the line.

It’s the last chance for cowboys to qualify for the Wranglers National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas with a historic one million dollar payout.

“This is as close to a ‘playoffs’ as our sports has ever had,” rodeo announcer Garrett Yerigan said.

As Brenten Hall and Colman Proctor of Oklahoma get in one last practice run for team roping, loads of semis were still pulling in to get ready for the Cinch Playoffs.

“I hope people understand the magnitude of this rodeo, we are down to the last three days of the regular season Saturday night; when we finish this rodeo the season is over with, that’s when we decide the top 15 who get to go to the NFR to play for $14 million dollars,” Yerigan said.

It’s dark inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center right now, but tomorrow night this place will be electric. Some of these cowboys have competed in at least 75 rodeos this year, but none bigger than this one.

For some, this is their last chance to qualify for the NFR.

“I’ve had a pretty good year, but toward the end of the season kind of fell off a bit and aren’t quite as high up as we need to be to make the final cut for the National Finals Rodeo, so this could be year changing for me either way,” Hall said.

His teammate agrees and is looking for big things to happen this weekend.

“As far as expectations, you’ve got the best in the world for two nights here and big money there’s going to be fireworks going off, I’m expecting our team to do really well,” Proctor said.

John Harrison is the barrel clown. His job is to keep the fans entertained between competitions.

“You know I get to go to rodeos all over the country and entertain, this is going to be one of those rodeos that’s going to be hard for me to entertain for not wanting to watch the show, because it’s coming down to this, I get to see these guys perform all year long and this weekend makes the difference if they get to go to Las Vegas or don’t and hopefully one day we’ll get to go with them,” Harrison said.

For more information about the Cinch playoffs and how to get tickets, click here.