A new contest record
685.6684
highest overall ever cooked here
685.6684 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 681.1432 TIPPYCANOE BBQ CREW set in 2013.
- old record 681.1432
- set 2013 by TIPPYCANOE BBQ CREW
The Masters In May 2015
May 1–2, 2015 · Appleton, WI
iBQ'n won Grand Champion at The Masters In May on May 1, 2015 in Appleton, WI, scoring 685.6684 in a field of 57 teams. BIG CHAIN BBQ GANG took Reserve Grand Champion with 679.9312. Category winners: Chicken — BIG "E" BBQ (177.1428); Pork Ribs — SHIGGIN & GRINNIN (174.8800); Pork — iBQ'n (175.4400); Brisket — BIG CHAIN BBQ GANG (177.1428). This is the 3rd of 3 editions of this contest on record; the 2014 edition was won by iBQ'n@TheBBQSuperStore.com.
The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)
How the field scored
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
455.29
median 642.75
685.67 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 177.14
- Pork Ribs 174.88
- Pork 175.44
- Brisket 177.14
135.41
177.14
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2013 to 2015 — this edition picked out.
Entries
57
4 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
685.6684
Winning margin
5.7372
GC over RC
Field average
636.45
455.29685.67
median 642.75 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
4.6172 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
663.3712
455.29685.67
10th place overall
Field spread
230.3768
winner to last place
Double threats
4
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 81%
beats 19% of 4715 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
52%
32 of 62 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.81 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,547
avg power rating going in · stronger than 35% of contests
Storylines (7 found in this contest's numbers)
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
Back-to-back
2 in a row
editions of this contest
iBQ'n@TheBBQSuperStore.com won here last time out too — 2 straight editions of this contest.
- 2014
- 2015
A dynasty in the making
2×
wins at this contest
2 of 3 tracked editions
iBQ'n@TheBBQSuperStore.com has won this contest 2 times across its 3 tracked editions.
- 2014
- 2015
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 9 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 4–5: SLIM D'S BBQ and A FINE SWINE tied on 171.4172 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 9–10: SHIGGIN & GRINNIN edged TIM'S FULL BELLI DELI by 0.0004. Pork places 8–9: SLIM D'S BBQ edged SHIGGIN & GRINNIN by 0.0112.
- Chicken 4–5 · tie
- Pork 9–10 · 0.0004
- Pork 8–9 · 0.0112
- Pork Ribs 8–9 · 0.0116
How the title was won
3 of 4
meats called to the stage
iBQ'n took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was pork ribs at 12th.
- Chicken 10th
- Pork Ribs 12th
- Pork 1st
- Brisket 2nd
A contest record in pork
175.4400
best pork ever cooked here
iBQ'n turned in 175.4400 in pork — past the 174.3200 that had stood across 2 earlier editions.
- old best 174.3200
- across 2 past editions
One of the big ones
57
teams on the grounds
Bigger than 90% of the 5,469 contests in the data
57 teams — bigger than 90% of the 5,469 contests in the data.
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2013 | Fremont, WI | Fremont, WI | 48 | 681.1432 | TIPPYCANOE BBQ CREW | LUCKY'S Q |
| May 2, 2014 | Fremont, WI | Fremont, WI 54940 | 62 | 673.1544 | iBQ'n@TheBBQSuperStore.com | BUBBA-Q'S |
| May 1, 2015 ← this one | Appleton, WI | Appleton, WI 54913 | 57 | 685.6684 | iBQ'n@TheBBQSuperStore.com | BIG CHAIN BBQ GANG |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 177.1428 | 171.4172 | 168.5256 |
| Pork Ribs | 174.8800 | 170.2628 | 166.8344 |
| Pork | 175.4400 | 169.1200 | 167.9884 |
| Brisket | 177.1428 | 171.4400 | 169.1200 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
57 entries · top 685.6684 · median 642.7544
Chicken
56 entries · top 177.1428 · median 162.2458
Pork Ribs
57 entries · top 174.8800 · median 157.6916
Pork
57 entries · top 175.4400 · median 160.5256
Brisket
57 entries · top 177.1428 · median 162.8228
Ancillary categories
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.
Master Series — Dessert
11 entries · top 180 · median 173.7144 · 🔥 perfect 180