Squealin in the Square (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) 2017

Oct 6–7, 2017 · Laurens, SC · 📍 126 E Public Sq

🥇

SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ

683.3256 · Master Series — Overall

🥈

MIDNIGHT BURN

682.1712 · Master Series — Overall

🥉

SAUCED! BBQ TEAM

681.7144 · Master Series — Overall

SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ won Grand Champion at the Squealin in the Square (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) on October 6, 2017 in Laurens, SC at 126 E Public Sq, scoring 683.3256 in a field of 26 teams. MIDNIGHT BURN took Reserve Grand Champion with 682.1712. Category winners: Chicken — MIDNIGHT BURN (174.2628); Pork Ribs — SAUCED! BBQ TEAM (177.1772); Pork — SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ (175.4172); Brisket — HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY (178.8572). This is the 1st of 2 editions of this contest on record; the next was held in 2018.

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.

429.02 median 662.16 683.33 🏆

How the meats cooked

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

Chicken 174.26
Pork Ribs 177.18
Pork 175.42
Brisket 178.86

129.13 178.86

Entries

4 judged meats

Top score

683.3256

Winning margin

1.1544

GC over RC

Field average

646.90

429.02683.33

median 662.16 · last place to winner

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Chicken

4 pts across the top 5

Top-10 cutoff

666.8116

429.02683.33

10th place overall

Field spread

254.3088

winner to last place

Most consistent

MIDNIGHT BURN

avg finish 5.25 across 4 meats

Double threats

teams with 2+ top-5 calls

Widest winning margin

Pork

won by 2.8572 pts — SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ

How hot was the win?

Top 85%

beats 15% of 4723 Master Series wins in the data

Form held

Strong

ρ = -0.63 between pre-contest rating and finish

Field strength

1,590

avg power rating going in · stronger than 71% of contests

Top-rated in the field

REDNECK SCIENTIFIC

rated 1900 pre-contest

Storylines (4 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.

A razor-thin finish

1.1544 points between champion and reserve

Closer than 79% of the 4,722 championships in the data

The Grand Championship was decided by 1.1544 points — closer than 79% of every championship in the data.

SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ
MIDNIGHT BURN

An upset on the books

18-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 82 times in 100

Smoke Central BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, REDNECK SCIENTIFIC, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 18-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.

champion 1636
top seed 1900

Photo finishes

Tie closest of 11 calls decided inside half a point

Pork Ribs places 3–4: SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ and Q FACTOR tied on 174.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 2–3: SAUCED! BBQ TEAM and THE SMOKEHOUSE MAFIA tied on 172.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 5–6: SMOKIN NC and HEY GOOD BUDDY BARBECUE TEAM tied on 170.8228 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.

Pork Ribs 3–4 · tie
Pork 2–3 · tie
Pork 5–6 · tie
Pork 9–10 · tie

How the title was won

3 of 4 meats called to the stage

SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was chicken at 14th.

Chicken 14th
Pork Ribs 3rd
Pork 1st
Brisket 10th

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
Oct 6, 2017 ← this one	Laurens, SC	126 E Public Sq	26	683.3256	SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ	MIDNIGHT BURN
Oct 5, 2018	Laurens, SC	126 E Public Sq	27	699.9544	PALMETTO PITMASTERS	MUTTLEY CREW BBQ

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

Category	1st	5th	10th
Chicken	174.2628	170.2628	168.5484
Pork Ribs	177.1772	173.1200	166.8228
Pork	175.4172	170.8228	166.2628
Brisket	178.8572	170.8228	166.8228

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

26 entries · top 683.3256 · median 662.1596

#	Team	Score
1	SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ	683.3256
2	MIDNIGHT BURN	682.1712
3	SAUCED! BBQ TEAM	681.7144
4	SMOKE ON THIS	679.8968
5	HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY	675.9200
6	SMOKIN NC	674.1828
7	THE SMOKEHOUSE MAFIA	674.1828
8	SMOKIN' GRINGO'S BBQ	669.5656
9	CAROLINA SMOKIN JOHN'S BBQ	667.2796
10	HOGGY BOTTOM BOYS	666.8116
11	HEY GOOD BUDDY BARBECUE TEAM	666.1600
12	REDNECK SCIENTIFIC	664.3996
13	Q FACTOR	662.2168
14	PALMETTO PITMASTERS	662.1024
15	SUE E PIGG	660.4912
16	PIG ON FIRE	654.8228
17	PIGLET ENEMY	651.9428
18	KIND OF A BIG DEAL BBQ	650.7772
19	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	650.6740
20	NARD'S BACKYARD BBQ	647.8628
21	SWIG-N-PIG	640.3772
22	ON THE SPOT BBQ	630.0796
23	THE HAWG ROCK CAFE	628.4568
24	The Smokin Grill	594.6744
25	One Eyed Mule BBQ	570.1828
26	CD's BBQ & More	429.0168

Chicken

26 entries · top 174.2628 · median 167.1086

#	Team	Score
1	MIDNIGHT BURN	174.2628
2	SUE E PIGG	173.1428
3	HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY	171.9772
4	SMOKIN NC	171.4056
5	CAROLINA SMOKIN JOHN'S BBQ	170.2628
6	The Smokin Grill	169.7028
7	HEY GOOD BUDDY BARBECUE TEAM	169.1200
8	PIGLET ENEMY	168.5828
9	KIND OF A BIG DEAL BBQ	168.5600
10	SMOKE ON THIS	168.5484
11	PALMETTO PITMASTERS	168.5256
12	HOGGY BOTTOM BOYS	167.9772
13	NARD'S BACKYARD BBQ	167.3944
14	SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ	166.8228
15	SWIG-N-PIG	165.6800
16	SAUCED! BBQ TEAM	165.6800
17	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	165.6684
18	Q FACTOR	163.9884
19	SMOKIN' GRINGO'S BBQ	162.8228
20	THE SMOKEHOUSE MAFIA	162.8228
21	THE HAWG ROCK CAFE	160.5028
22	ON THE SPOT BBQ	158.8112
23	REDNECK SCIENTIFIC	158.7884
24	PIG ON FIRE	155.9772
25	CD's BBQ & More	154.8228
26	One Eyed Mule BBQ	129.1312

Pork Ribs

26 entries · top 177.1772 · median 164.5542

#	Team	Score
1	SAUCED! BBQ TEAM	177.1772
2	SMOKE ON THIS	175.4056
3	SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ	174.2628
4	Q FACTOR	174.2628
5	REDNECK SCIENTIFIC	173.1200
6	THE SMOKEHOUSE MAFIA	169.6800
7	SMOKIN NC	168.5716
8	MIDNIGHT BURN	168.5256
9	HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY	166.8456
10	PALMETTO PITMASTERS	166.8228
11	SUE E PIGG	166.2400
12	PIGLET ENEMY	165.1428
13	PIG ON FIRE	164.5600
14	CAROLINA SMOKIN JOHN'S BBQ	164.5484
15	SMOKIN' GRINGO'S BBQ	163.9428
16	SWIG-N-PIG	162.8344
17	HOGGY BOTTOM BOYS	162.2400
18	HEY GOOD BUDDY BARBECUE TEAM	159.3828
19	KIND OF A BIG DEAL BBQ	158.8228
20	ON THE SPOT BBQ	157.0628
21	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	155.9428
22	NARD'S BACKYARD BBQ	153.6800
23	THE HAWG ROCK CAFE	148
24	One Eyed Mule BBQ	139.9772
25	CD's BBQ & More	137.0972
26	The Smokin Grill	137.0972

Pork

26 entries · top 175.4172 · median 162.2456

#	Team	Score
1	SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ	175.4172
2	SAUCED! BBQ TEAM	172.5600
3	THE SMOKEHOUSE MAFIA	172.5600
4	SMOKIN' GRINGO'S BBQ	171.9772
5	SMOKIN NC	170.8228
6	HEY GOOD BUDDY BARBECUE TEAM	170.8228
7	SMOKE ON THIS	169.7144
8	PIG ON FIRE	167.4400
9	MIDNIGHT BURN	166.2628
10	REDNECK SCIENTIFIC	166.2628
11	NARD'S BACKYARD BBQ	165.1428
12	HOGGY BOTTOM BOYS	164.5716
13	Q FACTOR	162.8456
14	CAROLINA SMOKIN JOHN'S BBQ	161.6456
15	PALMETTO PITMASTERS	161.0856
16	PIGLET ENEMY	158.8572
17	HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY	158.2400
18	One Eyed Mule BBQ	158.2172
19	SUE E PIGG	157.7028
20	KIND OF A BIG DEAL BBQ	157.1544
21	THE HAWG ROCK CAFE	157.1084
22	ON THE SPOT BBQ	154.7884
23	SWIG-N-PIG	154.2172
24	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	153.0628
25	The Smokin Grill	140.4912
26	CD's BBQ & More	137.0968

Brisket

25 entries · top 178.8572 · median 166.2284

#	Team	Score
1	HICKORY BARBEQUE COMPANY	178.8572
2	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	176
3	MIDNIGHT BURN	173.1200
4	HOGGY BOTTOM BOYS	172.0228
5	CAROLINA SMOKIN JOHN'S BBQ	170.8228
6	SMOKIN' GRINGO'S BBQ	170.8228
7	THE SMOKEHOUSE MAFIA	169.1200
8	PIG ON FIRE	166.8456
9	HEY GOOD BUDDY BARBECUE TEAM	166.8344
10	SMOKE CENTRAL BBQ	166.8228
11	SAUCED! BBQ TEAM	166.2972
12	KIND OF A BIG DEAL BBQ	166.2400
13	REDNECK SCIENTIFIC	166.2284
14	SMOKE ON THIS	166.2284
15	PALMETTO PITMASTERS	165.6684
16	SUE E PIGG	163.4056
17	SMOKIN NC	163.3828
18	THE HAWG ROCK CAFE	162.8456
19	NARD'S BACKYARD BBQ	161.6456
20	Q FACTOR	161.1200
21	ON THE SPOT BBQ	159.4172
22	PIGLET ENEMY	159.3600
23	SWIG-N-PIG	157.6456
24	The Smokin Grill	147.3832
25	One Eyed Mule BBQ	142.8572

Squealin in the Square (PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) 2017

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

How the field scored

How the meats cooked

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?

Form held

Field strength

Top-rated in the field

Storylines (4 found in this contest's numbers)

A razor-thin finish

An upset on the books

Photo finishes

How the title was won

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