A day of perfect scores
3
perfect 180s
3 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
- HOOS SMOKIN · Chicken
- B&R SMOKE · Chicken
- Rudes BBQ · Chicken
8th Annual KCBS World Invitational: World Chicken Finals (Friday, May 22, 2026)
May 22, 2026 · Lebanon, TN · 📍 James E. Ward Agricultural Center (Wilson County Fairgrounds)
Reps: Carolyn Wells, Charlie Brinza, Dave Rogers, David Burstein, Eugene Wickham, Jeanne Titus, Peg Rogers, Sarah Wickham
Full results from the 8th Annual KCBS World Invitational: World Chicken Finals (Friday, May 22, 2026), a KCBS-sanctioned barbecue contest held on May 22, 2026 in Lebanon, TN at James E. Ward Agricultural Center (Wilson County Fairgrounds). B&R SMOKE took Reserve Grand Champion. Category winners: Chicken — HOOS SMOKIN (180.0000).
The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)
How the field scored
Chicken totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
152.48
median 172.27
180 🏆
Entries
74
1 judged meat
Top score
180
Winning margin
Tie
identical totals — KCBS tiebreaker
Field average
172.65
152.48180
Chicken · median 172.27 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Chicken
1.1428 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
177.7028
152.48180
10th place in Chicken
Field spread
27.5200
winner to last place
How hot was the win?
Top 23%
beats 77% of 5580 Chicken wins in the data
Storylines (3 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.
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 6 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 1–2: HOOS SMOKIN and B&R SMOKE tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 2–3: B&R SMOKE and Rudes BBQ tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: Bourbon & Blues BBQ and LOCAL YOKELS BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 1–2 · tie
- Chicken 2–3 · tie
- Chicken 4–5 · tie
- Chicken 5–6 · tie
One of the big ones
74
teams on the grounds
Bigger than 96% of the 5,468 contests in the data
74 teams — bigger than 96% of the 5,468 contests in the data.
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Score distribution
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180 | 178.8572 | 177.7028 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Masters Series Single Meat
Chicken
74 entries · top 180 · median 172.2744 · 🔥 perfect 180