Murphysboro BBQ Cookoff

2017-09-22 – 2017-09-23 · Murphysboro, IL · 📍 214 N 17th St

Grand Champion: Q-BONES BBQ (701.1084) · 55 teams

Reserve Champion: 🥈 IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE

🥇

Q-BONES BBQ

701.1084 · Master Series — Overall

🥈

IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE

695.9540 · Master Series — Overall

🥉

SMOKE FREAKS

694.8572 · Master Series — Overall

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.

503.91 median 665.71 701.11 🏆

How the meats cooked

Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.

Chicken 179.44
Pork Ribs 179.44
Pork 177.18
Brisket 180.00 🔥

20.00 180.00

Winning score by edition

What it has taken to win here, 2016 to 2018 — this edition picked out.

Entries

4 judged meats

Top score

701.1084

Winning margin

5.1544

GC over RC

Field average

660.67

503.91701.11

median 665.71 · last place to winner

Perfect 180s

1 🔥

IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE (Brisket)

Tightest race

Pork Ribs

2.2856 pts across the top 5

Top-10 cutoff

687.3712

503.91701.11

10th place overall

Field spread

197.1996

winner to last place

Most consistent

Q-BONES BBQ

avg finish 8.00 across 4 meats

Double threats

teams with 2+ top-5 calls

Widest winning margin

Brisket

won by 2.2972 pts — IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE

How hot was the win?

Top 28%

beats 72% of 4707 Master Series wins in the data

Came back for more

52%

33 of 64 teams from the previous edition returned

Form held

Strong

ρ = -0.77 between pre-contest rating and finish

Field strength

1581

avg power rating going in · stronger than 64% of contests

Top-rated in the field

IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ

rated 2046 pre-contest

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.

An upset on the books

21-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 79 times in 100

Q-BONES BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 21-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.

champion 1810
top seed 2046

Photo finishes

Tie closest of 12 calls decided inside half a point

Chicken places 4–5: BBQ Bus and VICTORY LANE BBQ tied on 174.2856 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 7–8: ONE2BBQ and SWINE LIFE tied on 173.7144 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 1–2: BBQ Bus and SMOKE FREAKS tied on 179.4400 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.

Chicken 4–5 · tie
Chicken 7–8 · tie
Pork Ribs 1–2 · tie
Pork Ribs 6–7 · tie

How the title was won

2 of 4 meats called to the stage

Q-BONES BBQ took the title on 2 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was pork at 18th.

Chicken 1st
Pork Ribs 11th
Pork 18th
Brisket 2nd

A contest record in brisket

180.0000 best brisket ever cooked here

IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE turned in 180.0000 in brisket — past the 178.8800 that had stood across 1 earlier editions.

old best 178.8800
across 1 past editions

Back to defend

1 past champions back in the field

Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: ONE2BBQ (won 2016).

ONE2BBQ · 2016

One of the big ones

55 teams on the grounds

Bigger than 90% of the 5,410 contests in the data

55 teams made this a bigger field than 90% of every contest tracked.

A perfect score on the table

1 perfect 180s

1 perfect 180 was scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.

IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE · Brisket

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)

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
2016-09-23	Murphysboro, IL	Murphysboro, IL	64	702.8344	ONE2BBQ	IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ
2017-09-22 ← this one	Murphysboro, IL	214 N 17th St	55	701.1084	Q-BONES BBQ	IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE
2018-09-21	Murphysboro, IL	214 N 17th St	59	712.5600	IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ	CLARK CREW BBQ

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Category	1st	5th	10th
Chicken	179.4400	174.2856	173.1200
Pork Ribs	179.4400	177.1544	174.2628
Pork	177.1772	174.2628	171.9656
Brisket	180.0000	176.5828	171.4744

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

55 entries · top 701.1084 · median 665.7144

#	Team	Score
1	Q-BONES BBQ	701.1084
2	IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE	695.9540
3	SMOKE FREAKS	694.8572
4	ONE2BBQ	693.0860
5	BBQ Bus	692.5256
6	Organizer Portal	691.9656
7	GILLY'S BBQ	691.4060
8	IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ	691.3600
9	VICTORY LANE BBQ	689.6684
10	TENNESSEE MOJO	687.3712
11	BOSS HAWG BBQ	686.2628
12	SWINE LIFE	685.6456
13	JUGS BBQ	685.0628
14	WOODWARD BARBEQUE	683.3484
15	PORK PARADISE	682.7768
16	BILLY RAY BBQ	681.6456
17	PHAT DADDY DOUG'S BBQ	681.1316
18	Phat Chance	679.9084
19	SEXY Q/17TH ST BAR & GRILL	678.1828
20	SMOKEY'S Q	673.6000
21	QUAU	673.5768
22	ALL IN QUE	672.4456
23	Three Porks & A Smoker	671.9316
24	ST. LOUIS BLACK IRON BBQ	671.9200
25	Poker Porkers	670.7768
26	HOT MESS BBQ	669.0172
27	JH OLD SCHOOL	667.2684
28	SMOKERS ANONYMOUS OF SO. IL	665.7144
29	Serial Grillers	663.3484
30	BOOM BOOM QUE	663.2796
31	Boars Night Out	662.7084
32	BAR BQ POSSE	661.0056
33	AUTO"BE"GRILLIN	659.8968
34	Backdraft Cooking Systems	658.6856
35	Pork Whisperers	655.2800
36	Big O' Dang O' BBQ	654.1368
37	DEWEY, SMOKE'M & HOWE	653.0628
38	BEER & SMOKING IN LAS VEGAS	653.0172
39	SUGARFIRE SMOKEHOUSE	653.0056
40	RUB IT, SMOKE IT, LOVE IT	652.4344
41	Dad's Smokin' Butt BBQ	649.6232
42	Diamond D Cooking Team	646.7424
43	BORN OF FIRE!	646.0912
44	NUTHATCH HILL BBQ CO.	640.9488
45	Rub Runners	634.7084
46	Mispits	631.2228
47	CARBONDALE PORK DISTRICT	630.1828
48	Pork Wrenches	630.1600
49	RJ'S BOW TIE BARBECUE	628.8912
50	PARTY Q	626.1140
51	Ninja Pigs	625.6116
52	THE SMOKIN' PARROTS	624.9140
53	Choke Em & Smoke Em	618.8456
54	Boppie's BBQ	599.2688
55	SMOKI BROS. BBQ	503.9088

Chicken

55 entries · top 179.4400 · median 167.3828

#	Team	Score
1	Q-BONES BBQ	179.4400
2	JUGS BBQ	177.7144
3	Poker Porkers	176.5828
4	BBQ Bus	174.2856
5	VICTORY LANE BBQ	174.2856
6	IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ	174.2628
7	ONE2BBQ	173.7144
8	SWINE LIFE	173.7144
9	JH OLD SCHOOL	173.7028
10	PHAT DADDY DOUG'S BBQ	173.1200
11	Dad's Smokin' Butt BBQ	173.1200
12	BOOM BOOM QUE	172.5484
13	SMOKE FREAKS	171.9772
14	Phat Chance	171.9656
15	DEWEY, SMOKE'M & HOWE	171.4744
16	BOSS HAWG BBQ	171.4400
17	BILLY RAY BBQ	171.4172
18	Boars Night Out	171.4172
19	Three Porks & A Smoker	171.4056
20	Organizer Portal	170.8572
21	Pork Whisperers	170.8344
22	TENNESSEE MOJO	170.2628
23	WOODWARD BARBEQUE	170.2628
24	SMOKEY'S Q	169.6800
25	QUAU	169.1084
26	IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE	167.9656
27	THE SMOKIN' PARROTS	167.4172
28	ALL IN QUE	167.3828
29	SEXY Q/17TH ST BAR & GRILL	166.8112
30	PORK PARADISE	166.2628
31	Big O' Dang O' BBQ	166.2628
32	GILLY'S BBQ	166.2400
33	Pork Wrenches	165.7144
34	RUB IT, SMOKE IT, LOVE IT	165.6800
35	BEER & SMOKING IN LAS VEGAS	165.6800
36	BAR BQ POSSE	165.1084
37	ST. LOUIS BLACK IRON BBQ	164.5372
38	Serial Grillers	164.5256
39	Diamond D Cooking Team	163.9656
40	HOT MESS BBQ	163.9544
41	SUGARFIRE SMOKEHOUSE	163.9428
42	AUTO"BE"GRILLIN	163.3712
43	SMOKI BROS. BBQ	162.8456
44	BORN OF FIRE!	162.8456
45	Rub Runners	162.2628
46	Mispits	161.6684
47	Ninja Pigs	159.4172
48	RJ'S BOW TIE BARBECUE	159.3828
49	NUTHATCH HILL BBQ CO.	159.3484
50	SMOKERS ANONYMOUS OF SO. IL	158.2744
51	Backdraft Cooking Systems	158.2172
52	PARTY Q	155.9656
53	CARBONDALE PORK DISTRICT	153.0856
54	Boppie's BBQ	147.3944
55	Choke Em & Smoke Em	142.2400

Pork Ribs

55 entries · top 179.4400 · median 168.0116

#	Team	Score
1	BBQ Bus	179.4400
2	SMOKE FREAKS	179.4400
3	Organizer Portal	178.8572
4	GILLY'S BBQ	177.7144
5	IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ	177.1544
6	IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE	176.5828
7	SWINE LIFE	176.5828
8	PORK PARADISE	176.0000
9	ONE2BBQ	175.4172
10	WOODWARD BARBEQUE	174.2628
11	Q-BONES BBQ	174.2628
12	TENNESSEE MOJO	173.7028
13	BILLY RAY BBQ	172.5828
14	BOSS HAWG BBQ	172.5600
15	ALL IN QUE	172.5600
16	VICTORY LANE BBQ	172.0000
17	SMOKERS ANONYMOUS OF SO. IL	170.8572
18	JUGS BBQ	170.8572
19	ST. LOUIS BLACK IRON BBQ	170.2856
20	SUGARFIRE SMOKEHOUSE	170.2628
21	HOT MESS BBQ	169.6800
22	AUTO"BE"GRILLIN	169.1316
23	BOOM BOOM QUE	169.1084
24	BEER & SMOKING IN LAS VEGAS	168.5372
25	Pork Whisperers	168.5256
26	NUTHATCH HILL BBQ CO.	168.0116
27	Boppie's BBQ	168.0116
28	Three Porks & A Smoker	168.0116
29	PHAT DADDY DOUG'S BBQ	167.4172
30	BORN OF FIRE!	167.3944
31	JH OLD SCHOOL	166.8228
32	SEXY Q/17TH ST BAR & GRILL	165.6916
33	Backdraft Cooking Systems	165.1084
34	SMOKI BROS. BBQ	165.0972
35	Choke Em & Smoke Em	164.6172
36	DEWEY, SMOKE'M & HOWE	164.5256
37	BAR BQ POSSE	164.5256
38	Serial Grillers	163.4172
39	Poker Porkers	163.4056
40	Phat Chance	163.4056
41	SMOKEY'S Q	162.8228
42	Dad's Smokin' Butt BBQ	162.2516
43	RUB IT, SMOKE IT, LOVE IT	159.3828
44	QUAU	158.2056
45	Big O' Dang O' BBQ	157.6800
46	Diamond D Cooking Team	157.6800
47	CARBONDALE PORK DISTRICT	154.8344
48	Pork Wrenches	154.2284
49	Rub Runners	153.6800
50	Boars Night Out	153.0856
51	Mispits	151.9200
52	Ninja Pigs	150.2400
53	PARTY Q	150.2284
54	RJ'S BOW TIE BARBECUE	150.1828
55	THE SMOKIN' PARROTS	145.0284

Pork

55 entries · top 177.1772 · median 167.9772

#	Team	Score
1	BOSS HAWG BBQ	177.1772
2	SEXY Q/17TH ST BAR & GRILL	177.1428
3	Phat Chance	175.4172
4	WOODWARD BARBEQUE	174.8456
5	VICTORY LANE BBQ	174.2628
6	ST. LOUIS BLACK IRON BBQ	172.5600
7	ONE2BBQ	171.9772
8	ALL IN QUE	171.9772
9	PORK PARADISE	171.9656
10	SWINE LIFE	171.9656
11	Three Porks & A Smoker	171.4172
12	BBQ Bus	171.4056
13	JUGS BBQ	171.4056
14	IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE	171.4056
15	GILLY'S BBQ	170.8572
16	Rub Runners	170.2972
17	Serial Grillers	170.2628
18	Q-BONES BBQ	169.7028
19	Diamond D Cooking Team	169.7028
20	IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ	169.6800
21	SMOKE FREAKS	169.1428
22	QUAU	169.1200
23	PHAT DADDY DOUG'S BBQ	169.1200
24	HOT MESS BBQ	169.1200
25	AUTO"BE"GRILLIN	168.5484
26	Organizer Portal	168.5256
27	BILLY RAY BBQ	167.9772
28	BOOM BOOM QUE	167.9772
29	Big O' Dang O' BBQ	167.9656
30	Poker Porkers	167.9656
31	RUB IT, SMOKE IT, LOVE IT	167.4172
32	Boars Night Out	167.3828
33	SMOKERS ANONYMOUS OF SO. IL	166.8800
34	TENNESSEE MOJO	166.8228
35	BEER & SMOKING IN LAS VEGAS	166.2628
36	BAR BQ POSSE	165.0972
37	PARTY Q	165.0972
38	JH OLD SCHOOL	165.0856
39	SMOKEY'S Q	164.5372
40	Backdraft Cooking Systems	163.9428
41	Pork Wrenches	163.4172
42	SUGARFIRE SMOKEHOUSE	162.8344
43	Choke Em & Smoke Em	161.7256
44	Pork Whisperers	161.6800
45	THE SMOKIN' PARROTS	161.6684
46	Dad's Smokin' Butt BBQ	159.4172
47	Ninja Pigs	158.8572
48	DEWEY, SMOKE'M & HOWE	158.2628
49	Boppie's BBQ	158.2400
50	NUTHATCH HILL BBQ CO.	157.6572
51	Mispits	156.5372
52	CARBONDALE PORK DISTRICT	156.0000
53	RJ'S BOW TIE BARBECUE	154.8000
54	BORN OF FIRE!	154.1940
55	SMOKI BROS. BBQ	20.0000

Brisket

55 entries · top 180.0000 · median 164.5256 · 🔥 perfect 180

#	Team	Score
1	IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE	180.0000 🔥
2	Q-BONES BBQ	177.7028
3	QUAU	177.1428
4	GILLY'S BBQ	176.5944
5	TENNESSEE MOJO	176.5828
6	SMOKEY'S Q	176.5600
7	SMOKE FREAKS	174.2972
8	Organizer Portal	173.7256
9	ONE2BBQ	171.9772
10	PHAT DADDY DOUG'S BBQ	171.4744
11	Backdraft Cooking Systems	171.4172
12	Boars Night Out	170.8228
13	IOWA'S SMOKEY D'S BBQ	170.2628
14	SMOKERS ANONYMOUS OF SO. IL	169.7028
15	BILLY RAY BBQ	169.6684
16	VICTORY LANE BBQ	169.1200
17	Phat Chance	169.1200
18	PORK PARADISE	168.5484
19	SEXY Q/17TH ST BAR & GRILL	168.5372
20	BBQ Bus	167.3944
21	BAR BQ POSSE	166.2744
22	HOT MESS BBQ	166.2628
23	CARBONDALE PORK DISTRICT	166.2628
24	Serial Grillers	165.1428
25	BOSS HAWG BBQ	165.0856
26	JUGS BBQ	165.0856
27	ST. LOUIS BLACK IRON BBQ	164.5372
28	RJ'S BOW TIE BARBECUE	164.5256
29	WOODWARD BARBEQUE	163.9772
30	SWINE LIFE	163.3828
31	Poker Porkers	162.8228
32	Big O' Dang O' BBQ	162.2284
33	JH OLD SCHOOL	161.6572
34	BORN OF FIRE!	161.6572
35	Three Porks & A Smoker	161.0972
36	Mispits	161.0972
37	ALL IN QUE	160.5256
38	RUB IT, SMOKE IT, LOVE IT	159.9544
39	AUTO"BE"GRILLIN	158.8456
40	DEWEY, SMOKE'M & HOWE	158.8000
41	Ninja Pigs	157.0972
42	SMOKI BROS. BBQ	155.9660
43	SUGARFIRE SMOKEHOUSE	155.9656
44	NUTHATCH HILL BBQ CO.	155.9316
45	Diamond D Cooking Team	155.3940
46	Dad's Smokin' Butt BBQ	154.8344
47	PARTY Q	154.8228
48	Pork Whisperers	154.2400
49	BOOM BOOM QUE	153.6456
50	BEER & SMOKING IN LAS VEGAS	152.5372
51	THE SMOKIN' PARROTS	150.8000
52	Choke Em & Smoke Em	150.2628
53	Rub Runners	148.4684
54	Pork Wrenches	146.8000
55	Boppie's BBQ	125.6228

Murphysboro BBQ Cookoff

The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)

How the field scored

How the meats cooked

Winning score by edition

Entries

Top score

Winning margin

Field average

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Top-10 cutoff

Field spread

Most consistent

Double threats

Widest winning margin

How hot was the win?

Came back for more

Form held

Field strength

Top-rated in the field

Storylines (7 found in this contest's numbers)

An upset on the books

Photo finishes

How the title was won

A contest record in brisket

Back to defend

One of the big ones

A perfect score on the table

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 →

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

Chicken

Pork Ribs

Pork

Brisket