Sep 14–15, 2013 · Harvard, MA
QUE AND A HALF MEN won Grand Champion at the Harvard Fall Festival BBQ Contest on September 14, 2013 in Harvard, MA, scoring 686.2628 in a field of 42 teams. CAN U SMELL MY PITS BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 662.7772. Category winners: Chicken — I Smell Smoke!!! (169.7372); Pork Ribs — RUB THIS BBQ (174.8800); Pork — GOOD SMOKE BBQ (176.5944); Brisket — THE ROLLING BONEZ MA (173.1316). This is the 1st of 3 editions of this contest on record; the next was held in 2014.
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, 2013 to 2015 — 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.
QUE AND A HALF MEN won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 4 calls from 4 boards, best of them 2nd. Consistency beat fireworks.
Wider than 100% of the 4,722 championships in the data
The champion won by 23.4856 points — a wider margin than 100% of championships in the data.
2 of 3 tracked editions
SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA has won this contest 2 times across its 3 tracked editions.
Brisket places 7–8: I Smell Smoke!!! and Congamond Flying Pigs BBQ tied on 164.5372 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 8–9: Howling Hog BBQ edged STUBBORN BULL BBQ by 0.0116. Brisket places 8–9: Congamond Flying Pigs BBQ edged BEANTOWN SMOKERS by 0.0116.
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2013 ← this one | Harvard, MA | Harvard, MA | 42 | 686.2628 | QUE AND A HALF MEN | CAN U SMELL MY PITS BBQ |
| Sep 13, 2014 | Harvard, MA | Harvard, MA 01451 | 43 | 686.2744 | SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA | BIG UGLY'S BBQ - MD |
| Sep 12, 2015 | Harvard, MA | Harvard, MA 01451 | 37 | 694.7996 | SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA | PORK BUTT PARADISE |
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 169.7372 | 166.8228 | 164 |
| Pork Ribs | 174.8800 | 169.7484 | 165.7372 |
| Pork | 176.5944 | 166.8456 | 165.1428 |
| Brisket | 173.1316 | 165.7372 | 164.0116 |
42 entries · top 686.2628 · median 633.8968
42 entries · top 169.7372 · median 160.2628
42 entries · top 174.8800 · median 158.8284
42 entries · top 176.5944 · median 159.1314
42 entries · top 173.1316 · median 154.5200
Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.
19 entries · top 171.4172 · median 153.7028
19 entries · top 177.1428 · median 161.6684
19 entries · top 681.7260 · median 630.8228
19 entries · top 166.8572 · median 158.2744
19 entries · top 177.1428 · median 162.8572