2024-09-20 – 2024-09-21 · Murphysboro, IL · 📍 214 N 17th St · State championship
Reps: CAROLYN WELLS, DEBRA GAGE, WILLIAM GAGE · Prize money: $12,700.00
Grand Champion: The BBQ Bus (708.5716) · 58 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 WE WILL ROCK QUE
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
What it has taken to win here, 2022 to 2025 — this edition picked out.
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
708.5716 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 702.8344 Smokin' Ghost set in 2022.
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 69 times in 100
THE BBQ BUS came in rated below the field's top team, JANKY LEG BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 31-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
THE BBQ BUS won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 4 calls from 4 boards, best of them 3rd. Consistency beat fireworks.
5 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
Chicken places 3–4: DB BBQ and CONTINENTAL BARBEQUE CO. tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: CONTINENTAL BARBEQUE CO. and MACHETE BOYS BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 5–6: MACHETE BOYS BBQ and ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
JANKY LEG BBQ turned in 180.0000 in pork ribs — past the 178.8572 that had stood across 2 earlier editions.
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: Janky Leg BBQ (won 2023).
Bigger than 91% of the 5,410 contests in the data
58 teams made this a bigger field than 91% of every contest tracked.
This contest usually draws about 48 teams
58 teams is the deepest field this contest has drawn in the data, against a typical 48.
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-09-23 | Murphysboro, IL | 214 N 17th St | 46 | 702.8344 | Smokin' Ghost | SWINE LIFE |
| 2023-09-21 | Murphysboro, IL | 214 N 17th St | 50 | 701.1200 | Janky Leg BBQ | GOOD GOOGLY GOO BBQ |
| 2024-09-20 ← this one | Murphysboro, IL | 214 N 17th St | 58 | 708.5716 | The BBQ Bus | WE WILL ROCK QUE |
| 2025-09-19 | Murphysboro, IL | 214 N 17th St | 56 | 706.2628 | WeQ4u | TRIPLE H BBQ |
| 2026-09-25 | Murphysboro, IL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 178.8572 | 177.7144 |
| Pork Ribs | 180.0000 | 176.5600 | 175.4172 |
| Pork | 180.0000 | 176.5600 | 175.4400 |
| Brisket | 180.0000 | 177.7028 | 174.2628 |
58 entries · top 708.5716 · median 684.1828
58 entries · top 180.0000 · median 173.6914 · 🔥 perfect 180
58 entries · top 180.0000 · median 170.8228 · 🔥 perfect 180
58 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.4114 · 🔥 perfect 180
58 entries · top 180.0000 · median 168.5256 · 🔥 perfect 180