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) #1
Sep 22–23, 2023 · Oneonta, AL · 📍 Blount County-Oneonta Agri
Reps: Carol Bigler, Randy G Bigler · Prize money: $2,950
MAD ROCKET BARBECUE won Grand Champion at the O'So Good BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) #1 on September 22, 2023 in Oneonta, AL at Blount County-Oneonta Agri, scoring 351.9772 in a field of 18 teams. NORALA BBQ TEAM took Reserve Grand Champion with 351.9772. Category winners: Chicken — Modest Meats (176.5600); Pork Ribs — NORALA BBQ TEAM (176.5716).
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.
319.90
median 336.78
351.98 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 176.56
- Pork Ribs 176.57
154.22
176.57
Entries
18
2 judged meats
Top score
351.9772
Winning margin
Tie
identical totals — KCBS tiebreaker
Field average
336.40
319.90351.98
median 336.78 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Chicken
3.4284 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
336.5144
319.90351.98
10th place overall
Field spread
32.0800
winner to last place
Prize money
$2,950
on the line
Double threats
2
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 33%
beats 67% of 610 Backyard Series wins in the data
Form held
Moderate
ρ = -0.35 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,574
avg power rating going in · stronger than 58% of contests
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.
An upset on the books
26-in-100
shot on pre-contest ratings
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 74 times in 100
Mad Rocket Barbecue came in rated below the field's top team, LEE LA Q, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 26-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
- champion 1570
- top seed 1753
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 6 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 1–2: Modest Meats and MAD ROCKET BARBECUE tied on 176.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 3–4: NORALA BBQ TEAM and DANG GOOD BBQ tied on 175.4056 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 5–6: Phat Bites BBQ edged 931 BBQ by 0.0116.
- Chicken 1–2 · tie
- Chicken 3–4 · tie
- Chicken 5–6 · 0.0116
- Chicken 8–9 · 0.0116
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)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 176.5600 | 173.1316 | 168.5256 |
| Pork Ribs | 176.5716 | 171.4172 | 166.8228 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Backyard Series
Overall
18 entries · top 351.9772 · median 336.7828
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MAD ROCKET BARBECUE | |
| 2 | NORALA BBQ TEAM | |
| 3 | Jury's Out | |
| 4 | Smokey Bees BBQ - MS | |
| 5 | Small Batch BBQ - TN | |
| 6 | Smoke 'Em All | |
| 7 | Modest Meats | |
| 8 | 931 BBQ | |
| 9 | Dixie Pigs & Chick's BBQ Team | |
| 10 | Phat Bites BBQ | |
| 11 | DANG GOOD BBQ | |
| 12 | B.G.Q. | |
| 13 | LEE LA Q | |
| 14 | Pork Life | |
| 15 | Skeleton Crew | |
| 16 | Smokin Aces | |
| 17 | Bourbon & Blues BBQ | |
| 18 | Black Warrior Smokers |
Chicken
18 entries · top 176.5600 · median 169.6684
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Modest Meats | |
| 2 | MAD ROCKET BARBECUE | |
| 3 | NORALA BBQ TEAM | |
| 4 | DANG GOOD BBQ | |
| 5 | Phat Bites BBQ | |
| 6 | 931 BBQ | |
| 7 | Dixie Pigs & Chick's BBQ Team | |
| 8 | Jury's Out | |
| 9 | Small Batch BBQ - TN | |
| 10 | B.G.Q. | |
| 11 | Smokey Bees BBQ - MS | |
| 12 | Smokin Aces | |
| 13 | Smoke 'Em All | |
| 14 | LEE LA Q | |
| 15 | Bourbon & Blues BBQ | |
| 16 | Pork Life | |
| 17 | Skeleton Crew | |
| 18 | Black Warrior Smokers |
Pork Ribs
18 entries · top 176.5716 · median 166.8286
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NORALA BBQ TEAM | |
| 2 | MAD ROCKET BARBECUE | |
| 3 | Jury's Out | |
| 4 | Smokey Bees BBQ - MS | |
| 5 | Smoke 'Em All | |
| 6 | Small Batch BBQ - TN | |
| 7 | LEE LA Q | |
| 8 | B.G.Q. | |
| 9 | Pork Life | |
| 10 | Skeleton Crew | |
| 11 | Black Warrior Smokers | |
| 12 | Dixie Pigs & Chick's BBQ Team | |
| 13 | 931 BBQ | |
| 14 | Phat Bites BBQ | |
| 15 | Bourbon & Blues BBQ | |
| 16 | Modest Meats | |
| 17 | DANG GOOD BBQ | |
| 18 | Smokin Aces |