PORK-N-BONES

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#6277

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1402

peak 1402 · rated over 23 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2013-03-22

latest 2018-08-10

Best ToY finish

#759

Master 2013

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

0 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 23 contests

Avg finish

top 78%

overall standings

Best overall

665.6228 / 720

Master · WNC BBQ Festival

Perfect 180s

Current form

641.39 ▼

last 5 Master vs avg 643.99 (-2.60)

Walk rate

26%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

175.4172

Chicken · WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley)

Consistency

±13.20

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 163.12 · weakest Brisket (156.09)

Road miles

4,730

mi across 23 mapped stops · furthest 538 mi

Schedule strength

48%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1562)

Master avg

643.99 / 720

23 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (11 found in this team's record)

Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.

High-water mark

665.6228 career-best overall

92.4% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 665.6228 at WNC BBQ Festival — 92.4% of a perfect 720.

Master
2015-07-24

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

GRILLIN' GANGSTERS has finished one call ahead of PORK-N-BONES 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

Their season

2015 their best year

2015 was the year it came together: 5 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 60%.

5 contests
1 overall top-10s
0 category wins
average top 60%

A tough matchup

19–0 behind in the head-to-head

SMOKE THIS ahead in 100% of their meetings

SMOKE THIS has come out ahead in 19 of their 19 shared contests.

The weak link

−7.0 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 7.03 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 4% of the time against 4%.

Brisket avg 156.09
Chicken avg 163.12
1 calls in 23 entries

A strong matchup

5–2 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 71% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of GRILLIN' GANGSTERS in 5 of their 7 shared contests.

Chicken nemesis

16 of 19 shared chicken entries lost

SMOKE THIS ahead 84% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, SMOKE THIS has out-cooked them in 16 of 19 shared chicken entries.

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

Quenut BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

The long haul

4,730 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 4,730 miles across 23 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 538 miles to Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown.

23 mapped stops
furthest 538 mi

The metronome

±1.83% swing around their own average

Their overall lands within ±1.83% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.

averages 89.4% of a perfect score
23 contests

A standing appointment

6 years running at one contest

They've cooked Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show every year from 2013 to 2018 — the contest they never miss.

6 visits in all
best finish 28th

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.

Party Q

#6276 of the rated field

1403 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 20
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1403

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 20 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 20 contests
last seen 2025-09-19

⚔ Head-to-head

LUCKY BRISKET

#6275 of the rated field

1403 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 19
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1403

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 19 contests to 23, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 19 contests
last seen 2017-09-01

⚔ Head-to-head

JJ QUE

#6274 of the rated field

1403 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 12
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1403

No shared contest yet.

12 contests and no Grand Championship yet.

rated over 12 contests
last seen 2022-09-09

⚔ Head-to-head

Outlaw BBQ

#6272 of the rated field

1403 ▲ 1 power rating

Contests: 22
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 5%
Peak: 1403

No shared contest yet.

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2013.

rated over 22 contests
last seen 2024-04-26

⚔ Head-to-head

Mad Cow Angry Beaver

#6271 of the rated field

1404 ▲ 1 power rating

Contests: 20
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1404

No shared contest yet.

Level with PORK-N-BONES on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 20 contests
last seen 2025-06-27

⚔ Head-to-head

FLAT BOTTOM BBQ

#6279 of the rated field

1402 ▼ 1 power rating

Contests: 17
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1402

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 17 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 17 contests
last seen 2026-07-17

⚔ Head-to-head

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SMOKE THIS	19	0	19	0%	⚔ compare
MIDNIGHT BURN	14	0	14	0%	⚔ compare
WILD BUNCH BUTT BURNERS	13	0	13	0%	⚔ compare
THE BLUE BLOODS	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
ROCKY TOP BARBEQUE	11	0	11	0%	⚔ compare
TWO OLD MEN AND A GRILL	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
BAREKNUCKLES BBQ	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
Quenut BBQ	9	2	7	22%	⚔ compare
SWIGGIN PIG	9	1	8	11%	⚔ compare
SMOKING BUTT HEADS	9	1	8	11%	⚔ compare
BBQR'S DELIGHT	9	0	9	0%	⚔ compare
OLD PLANTATION BBQ	9	0	9	0%	⚔ compare
HOT WACHULA'S	9	0	9	0%	⚔ compare
BAYOU POKER SMOKERS	8	2	6	25%	⚔ compare
Killer B's BBQ	8	0	8	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	23	1	175.4172	153.6344	163.12	top 70%
Pork Ribs	23	3	172.5944	150.2400	162.25	top 63%
Pork	23	3	173.7372	144.4572	162.53	top 67%
Brisket	23	1	168.5256	138.1828	156.09	top 79%

“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.

By state / province

Where	Contests	Avg finish
NC	11	top 84%
GA	5	top 80%
LA	5	top 76%
AR	2	top 46%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	7	0	top 70%
Large (40+)	16	0	top 82%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show	6	28	top 91%	2018-08-10
Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival	5	40	top 80%	2017-08-04
WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley)	4	25	top 75%	2017-07-21
Go Hog Wild Arkansas BBQ Championship	2	7	top 46%	2015-10-02

The story so far (14 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 5.4 yrs 2013-03-22 → 2018-08-10

Busiest season 2015 5 contests

Contests a season 3.8 across 6 seasons in the data

Cooks most in NC 11 of 23 contests · 4 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 10 4 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 23 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls

Strongest meat Chicken averages 163.12 · weakest Brisket (156.09)

Walk rate 26% a top-10 call in 6 of 23 contests

Overall top-10 rate 4% 1 of 23 contests

Master average 643.99 out of 720 · 23 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 449 215–841 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 4,730 23 mapped stops · furthest 538 mi

Schedule strength 1562 average field rating faced — tougher than 48% of rated contests

Power rating 1402 peak 1402 · #6277 of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2013
Mar 22 First tracked contest Hammond Blues and BBQ
Mar 22 Peak power rating (1490) Hammond Blues and BBQ
Sep 27 First call Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown
Sep 27 First overall past 90% of a perfect score658.6740 Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown
2014
Oct 3 10th tracked contest Go Hog Wild Arkansas BBQ Championship
2015
Jul 24 Career-best overall score665.6228 WNC BBQ Festival
Oct 2 First overall top-10 Go Hog Wild Arkansas BBQ Championship
2017
Jul 21 Career-best single call (Chicken)175.4172 WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley)
2018
Aug 10 Most recent contest Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+11.6	Go Hog Wild Arkansas BBQ Championship	2015-10-02
+5.5	Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown	2013-09-27
+4.9	WNC BBQ Festival	2015-07-24
+0.6	Smokin Blues & BBQ	2015-03-27

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-11.4	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show	2013-08-09
-10.4	Hammond Blues and BBQ	2013-03-22
-9.9	Hamond BBQ	2016-03-25
-9	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show	2014-08-08
-8.5	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show	2016-08-12

Category scores over time

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Team of the Year rank by season

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2018	1	0	0%	top 96%	87.7%	87.7%
2017	3	0	33%	top 82%	91.1%	89.9%
2016	4	0	0%	top 95%	90%	88.3%
2015	5	1	40%	top 60%	92.4%	91.5%
2014	5	0	40%	top 80%	90.3%	88.9%
2013	5	0	20%	top 77%	91.5%	88.9%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2018-08-10	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Franklin, NC	49 / 51 (631.2004)	47 (158.2288)	49 (154.2172)	35 (163.9772)	46 (154.7772)
2017-08-11	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Franklin, NC	30 / 34 (631.7368)	31 (160.4912)	17 (163.9428)	29 (159.4056)	34 (147.8972)
2017-08-04	Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival Dillard, GA	43 / 57 (655.2340)	53 (162.2400)	39 (165.0740)	35 (165.1200)	38 (162.8000)
2017-07-21	WNC BBQ Festival(Smokin in the Valley) Maggie Valley, NC	39 / 47 (655.8284)	9 (175.4172)	44 (154.8000)	40 (160.5256)	28 (165.0856)
2016-08-12	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Franklin, NC	33 / 34 (632.9488)	33 (154.8000)	26 (162.8344)	29 (159.9544)	26 (155.3600)
2016-08-05	Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier) Dillard, GA	53 / 56 (636.9256)	53 (157.0628)	26 (167.9772)	56 (154.2400)	50 (157.6456)
2016-07-22	WNC BBQ Festival- Maggie Valley, NC	43 / 49 (647.7944)	28 (167.3828)	35 (162.8116)	35 (163.9544)	45 (153.6456)
2016-03-25	Hamond BBQ Hammond, LA	58 / 58 (624.8800)	32 (167.3828)	54 (157.1316)	58 (144.4572)	53 (155.9084)
2015-10-02	Go Hog Wild Arkansas BBQ Championship Sheridan, AR	7 / 25 (665.0284)	18 (158.8228)	5 (171.9772)	10 (165.7028)	7 (168.5256)
2015-08-07	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Franklin, NC	28 / 36 (659.9200)	30 (161.1428)	25 (165.6916)	19 (167.9884)	28 (165.0972)
2015-07-31	Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier) Dillard, GA	42 / 55 (657.0288)	41 (166.8572)	33 (167.3944)	39 (165.1200)	46 (157.6572)
2015-07-24	WNC BBQ Festival Maggie Valley, NC	25 / 49 (665.6228)	33 (164.5372)	5 (172.5944)	31 (164.5484)	29 (163.9428)
2015-03-27	Smokin Blues & BBQ Hammond, LA	37 / 56 (646.1252)	36 (165.0856)	27 (163.9656)	44 (158.8112)	38 (158.2628)
2014-10-03	Go Hog Wild Arkansas BBQ Championship Sheridan, AR	16 / 25 (650.1828)	17 (161.6800)	9 (165.7028)	12 (166.8572)	17 (155.9428)
2014-08-08	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Frankllin, NC	37 / 39 (619.8056)	35 (157.0740)	37 (150.2400)	30 (165.0972)	37 (147.3944)
2014-08-01	Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier) Dillard, GA	40 / 56 (650.1604)	24 (170.2628)	44 (156.5260)	31 (166.2744)	43 (157.0972)
2014-07-25	WNC BBQ Festival Maggie Valley, NC	36 / 46 (648.4912)	18 (167.4056)	39 (154.8000)	4 (173.7372)	38 (152.5484)
2014-03-21	Hammond BBQ Hammond, LA	55 / 61 (631.7488)	59 (153.6344)	32 (163.9544)	44 (159.9428)	52 (154.2172)
2013-09-27	Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown Vidalia, LA	16 / 38 (658.6740)	15 (168.5256)	20 (158.8000)	6 (172.0000)	22 (159.3484)
2013-08-09	Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show Franklin, NC	46 / 49 (624.4112)	39 (159.9656)	35 (160.5600)	27 (165.7028)	48 (138.1828)
2013-08-02	Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier) Dillard, GA	51 / 61 (644.4000)	38 (165.6800)	25 (168.5372)	57 (155.9428)	57 (154.2400)
2013-07-26	WNC Barbeque Festival Maggie Valley, NC	39 / 48 (637.6228)	43 (160.0000)	39 (158.2516)	28 (161.7028)	37 (157.6684)
2013-03-22	Hammond Blues and BBQ Hammond, LA	42 / 50 (635.9996)	17 (168.0002)	25 (164.0000)	43 (157.1426)	49 (146.8568)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)

Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2018 ↗	Master	#1954 (60 pts)	#2012 (60 pts)	#1996 (60 pts)	#2030 (60 pts)	#1990 (60 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#1443 (179 pts)	#1213 (264 pts)	#1368 (219 pts)	#1522 (179 pts)	#1516 (179 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#1231 (239 pts)	#1319 (239 pts)	#1320 (239 pts)	#1334 (239 pts)	#1298 (239 pts)
2015 ↗	Master	#847 (395 pts)	#1020 (325 pts)	#702 (540 pts)	#912 (395 pts)	#894 (395 pts)
2014 ↗	Master	#1071 (285 pts)	#1046 (325 pts)	#1132 (285 pts)	#842 (435 pts)	#1116 (285 pts)
2013 ↗	Master	#759 (405 pts)	#730 (450 pts)	#840 (385 pts)	#701 (475 pts)	#838 (375 pts)