Decided by a tiebreaker
Tie
identical totals at the top
The top two teams finished on identical totals — the Grand Championship came down to the KCBS tiebreaker rules.
O'So Good BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Day 2
2026-05-02 – 2026-05-03 · Cleveland, AL · 📍 6700 CR1
Reps: CAROL BIGLER, RANDY G BIGLER · Prize money: $1,775.00
Grand Champion: Baptized by Smoke (353.1200) · 15 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Jury's Out
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.
322.74
median 348.54
353.12 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 180.00 🔥
- Pork Ribs 177.71
158.22
180.00
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2024 to 2026 — this edition picked out.
Entries
15
2 judged meats · 2 ancillary
Top score
353.1200
Winning margin
Tie
identical totals — KCBS tiebreaker
Field average
344.75
322.74353.12
median 348.54 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Chicken
3.4400 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
343.9544
322.74353.12
10th place overall
Field spread
30.3772
winner to last place
Prize money
$1,775.00
on the line
Double threats
3
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 38%
beats 62% of 713 Backyard Series wins in the data
Came back for more
48%
11 of 23 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Weak
ρ = -0.26 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1614
avg power rating going in · stronger than 85% of contests
Storylines (6 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
17-in-100
shot on pre-contest ratings
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 83 times in 100
Baptized by Smoke came in rated below the field's top team, Rollin Smoke BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 17-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
- champion 1512
- top seed 1793
A first Grand Championship
3
tracked contests to get there
This was Baptized by Smoke's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 3rd tracked contest.
A knife fight at the top
2.2972
points across the top five
First to fifth in the overall standings covered just 2.2972 points — 2 teams sat within a single point of the lead.
- 1st Baptized by Smoke
- 2nd Jury's Out
- 3rd Rollin Smoke BBQ
- 4th Cook Shak BBQ MS
- 5th LEE LA Q
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 7 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 2–3: Baptized by Smoke and Rollin Smoke BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 4–5: Rollin Smoke BBQ and Jury's Out tied on 173.1200 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 5–6: Jury's Out and LEE LA Q tied on 173.1200 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 2–3 · tie
- Pork Ribs 4–5 · tie
- Pork Ribs 5–6 · tie
- Pork Ribs 6–7 · tie
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.
- Jury's Out · Chicken
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-05-04 | Oneonta, AL | 28117 State Hwy 75 | 20 | 355.4288 | Blue Falcon | — |
| 2025-05-03 | Oneonta, AL | 28117 State Hwy 75 | 23 | 358.8572 | Norala BBQ Team | — |
| 2026-05-02 ← this one | Cleveland, AL | 6700 CR1 | 15 | 353.1200 | Baptized by Smoke | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 176.5600 | 173.1200 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.7144 | 173.1200 | 169.6916 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Backyard Series
Overall
15 entries · top 353.1200 · median 348.5372
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baptized by Smoke | |
| 2 | Jury's Out | |
| 3 | Rollin Smoke BBQ | |
| 4 | Cook Shak BBQ MS | |
| 5 | LEE LA Q | |
| 6 | Budget BBQ | |
| 7 | PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | |
| 8 | HOLY SMOKIN!!! | |
| 9 | Bentley Que | |
| 10 | Pork Life | |
| 11 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 12 | Southern Swine | |
| 13 | Modest Meats | |
| 14 | Deviant Smoke | |
| 15 | Batons & Bones |
Chicken
15 entries · top 180.0000 · median 174.2628 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jury's Out | |
| 2 | Baptized by Smoke | |
| 3 | Rollin Smoke BBQ | |
| 4 | LEE LA Q | |
| 5 | PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | |
| 6 | HOLY SMOKIN!!! | |
| 7 | Bentley Que | |
| 8 | Cook Shak BBQ MS | |
| 9 | Pork Life | |
| 10 | Southern Swine | |
| 11 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 12 | Budget BBQ | |
| 13 | Modest Meats | |
| 14 | Batons & Bones | |
| 15 | Deviant Smoke |
Pork Ribs
15 entries · top 177.7144 · median 171.9772
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Budget BBQ | |
| 2 | Cook Shak BBQ MS | |
| 3 | Baptized by Smoke | |
| 4 | Rollin Smoke BBQ | |
| 5 | Jury's Out | |
| 6 | LEE LA Q | |
| 7 | HOLY SMOKIN!!! | |
| 8 | PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | |
| 9 | Pork Life | |
| 10 | Bentley Que | |
| 11 | Wee Daddy's BBQ | |
| 12 | Southern Swine | |
| 13 | Modest Meats | |
| 14 | Deviant Smoke | |
| 15 | Batons & Bones |
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.
Kids-Q — 10-15 Year Olds
2 entries · top 178.2972 · median 170.8400
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rollin' Smoke Jr. | |
| 2 | Miss Cook Shak |
Kids-Q — 5-9 Year Olds
4 entries · top 180.0000 · median 175.4114 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pork Life Jr. | |
| 2 | Singing Mermaid | |
| 3 | The Grillin' Diva | |
| 4 | Team Iron Man |