Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Franklin

May 7–8, 2021 · Franklin, NC · 📍 The Great Outdoors RV Resort · State championship

Reps: Alan Rothrock, Doug Reid

🥇

HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ

697.6572 · Master Series — Overall

🥈

ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN

694.7540 · Master Series — Overall

🥉

BALD HAWG BBQ

689.0624 · Master Series — Overall

HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ won Grand Champion at the Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Franklin on May 7, 2021 in Franklin, NC at The Great Outdoors RV Resort, scoring 697.6572 in a field of 17 teams. ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN took Reserve Grand Champion with 694.7540. Category winners: Chicken — ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN (180.0000); Pork Ribs — REDMULE'S BBQ (173.1316); Pork — ELITE BBQ SMOKERS (180.0000); Brisket — HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ (176.5600).

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.

631.20 median 680.48 697.66 🏆

How the meats cooked

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

Chicken 180 🔥
Pork Ribs 173.13
Pork 180 🔥
Brisket 176.56

150.23 180

Entries

4 judged meats

Top score

697.6572

Winning margin

2.9032

GC over RC

Field average

678.97

631.20697.66

median 680.48 · last place to winner

Perfect 180s

2 🔥

ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN (Chicken), ELITE BBQ SMOKERS (Pork)

Tightest race

Brisket

2.2972 pts across the top 5

Top-10 cutoff

679.3256

631.20697.66

10th place overall

Field spread

66.4576

winner to last place

Most consistent

HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ

avg finish 2.75 across 4 meats

Double threats

teams with 2+ top-5 calls

Widest winning margin

Chicken

won by 4.5828 pts — ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN

How hot was the win?

Top 43%

beats 57% of 4711 Master Series wins in the data

Form held

Moderate

ρ = -0.48 between pre-contest rating and finish

Field strength

1,625

avg power rating going in · stronger than 89% of contests

Top-rated in the field

ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN

rated 1879 pre-contest

Storylines (5 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

16-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 84 times in 100

HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 16-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.

champion 1587
top seed 1879

A first Grand Championship

49 tracked contests to get there

This was Hold Your Horses BBQ's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 49th tracked contest.

Photo finishes

Tie closest of 10 calls decided inside half a point

Pork Ribs places 6–7: SWIG-N-PIG and ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN tied on 169.6800 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 1–2: HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ and SWIG-N-PIG tied on 176.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Brisket places 5–6: TASTE OF GRACE and Still Workin' On It tied on 174.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.

Pork Ribs 6–7 · tie
Brisket 1–2 · tie
Brisket 5–6 · tie
Chicken 2–3 · 0.0116

How the title was won

4 of 4 meats called to the stage

HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was chicken at 4th.

Chicken 4th
Pork Ribs 3rd
Pork 3rd
Brisket 1st

A perfect score on the table

2 perfect 180s

2 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.

ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN · Chicken
ELITE BBQ SMOKERS · Pork

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)

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

Category	1st	5th	10th
Chicken	180	173.1084	170.2628
Pork Ribs	173.1316	170.8228	168.5256
Pork	180	173.1084	169.6800
Brisket	176.5600	174.2628	171.9656

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

17 entries · top 697.6572 · median 680.4800

#	Team	Score
1	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	697.6572
2	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	694.7540
3	BALD HAWG BBQ	689.0624
4	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	687.8968
5	TWISTED PAIR BBQ	687.8856
6	Still Workin' On It	687.3256
7	SWIG-N-PIG	686.7544
8	MUTTLEY CREW BBQ	682.1712
9	COOL HAND QUE	680.4800
10	SOUTHERN Q COMPETITION COOK TEAM	679.3256
11	REDMULE'S BBQ	679.3144
12	CHOOCHOO BBQ	678.7196
13	CREEKSIDE SMOKERS NC	676.4112
14	TASTE OF GRACE	673.5540
15	JIGGY PIGGY	671.3028
16	CLAUDE'S Q	658.6972
17	Tactical Tailgaters BBQ Team	631.1996

Chicken

17 entries · top 180 · median 170.8228 · 🔥 perfect 180

#	Team	Score
1	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	180 🔥
2	SWIG-N-PIG	175.4172
3	TWISTED PAIR BBQ	175.4056
4	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	173.7028
5	BALD HAWG BBQ	173.1084
6	CHOOCHOO BBQ	172.5600
7	JIGGY PIGGY	171.9884
8	CLAUDE'S Q	171.9656
9	CREEKSIDE SMOKERS NC	170.8228
10	COOL HAND QUE	170.2628
11	REDMULE'S BBQ	169.1200
12	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	169.1084
13	Still Workin' On It	167.9772
14	MUTTLEY CREW BBQ	166.2400
15	SOUTHERN Q COMPETITION COOK TEAM	165.1084
16	Tactical Tailgaters BBQ Team	165.0856
17	TASTE OF GRACE	164.5256

Pork Ribs

17 entries · top 173.1316 · median 168.5372

#	Team	Score
1	REDMULE'S BBQ	173.1316
2	MUTTLEY CREW BBQ	172.5600
3	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	171.9772
4	BALD HAWG BBQ	170.8456
5	CREEKSIDE SMOKERS NC	170.8228
6	SWIG-N-PIG	169.6800
7	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	169.6800
8	SOUTHERN Q COMPETITION COOK TEAM	169.1200
9	TASTE OF GRACE	168.5372
10	CHOOCHOO BBQ	168.5256
11	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	167.3828
12	Still Workin' On It	167.3828
13	TWISTED PAIR BBQ	165.0972
14	COOL HAND QUE	165.0856
15	JIGGY PIGGY	163.9428
16	CLAUDE'S Q	159.9544
17	Tactical Tailgaters BBQ Team	153.0856

Pork

17 entries · top 180 · median 169.7028 · 🔥 perfect 180

#	Team	Score
1	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	180 🔥
2	Still Workin' On It	177.7028
3	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	175.4172
4	TWISTED PAIR BBQ	174.2628
5	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	173.1084
6	COOL HAND QUE	171.4288
7	CREEKSIDE SMOKERS NC	170.8228
8	MUTTLEY CREW BBQ	170.2628
9	BALD HAWG BBQ	169.7028
10	SOUTHERN Q COMPETITION COOK TEAM	169.6800
11	REDMULE'S BBQ	168.5372
12	JIGGY PIGGY	166.2516
13	TASTE OF GRACE	166.2284
14	CHOOCHOO BBQ	165.6684
15	SWIG-N-PIG	165.0972
16	CLAUDE'S Q	161.6800
17	Tactical Tailgaters BBQ Team	150.2284

Brisket

17 entries · top 176.5600 · median 173.1084

#	Team	Score
1	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	176.5600
2	SWIG-N-PIG	176.5600
3	SOUTHERN Q COMPETITION COOK TEAM	175.4172
4	BALD HAWG BBQ	175.4056
5	TASTE OF GRACE	174.2628
6	Still Workin' On It	174.2628
7	COOL HAND QUE	173.7028
8	TWISTED PAIR BBQ	173.1200
9	MUTTLEY CREW BBQ	173.1084
10	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	171.9656
11	CHOOCHOO BBQ	171.9656
12	ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	171.4056
13	JIGGY PIGGY	169.1200
14	REDMULE'S BBQ	168.5256
15	CLAUDE'S Q	165.0972
16	CREEKSIDE SMOKERS NC	163.9428
17	Tactical Tailgaters BBQ Team	162.8000

Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Franklin

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 (5 found in this contest's numbers)

An upset on the books

A first Grand Championship

Photo finishes

How the title was won

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)

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