The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
V QUE has finished one call ahead of HICKORY NUT BBQ OF SOUTH CAROLINA 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
HICKORY NUT BBQ OF SOUTH CAROLINA
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1479
peak 1479 · rated over 5 contests ⓘ
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
2013-10-04
latest 2017-06-02
Best ToY finish
#1827
Master 2013
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 71%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
639.05
last 5 Master vs avg 639.05 (+0.00)
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±8.04
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 163.41 · weakest Brisket (157.42)
Road miles
50
mi across 5 mapped stops
Schedule strength
32%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1543)
Master avg
639.05 / 720
5 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (3 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.
The weak link
−6.0
points behind their best meat
Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 5.99 points below their pork ribs, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 20%.
- Brisket avg 157.42
- Pork Ribs avg 163.41
- 0 calls in 5 entries
A strong matchup
3–0
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of THE SMOKIN' GRILL in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
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.
145 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4135 of the rated field
- Contests
- 16
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1507
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to HICKORY NUT BBQ OF SOUTH CAROLINA)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team HICKORY NUT BBQ OF SOUTH CAROLINA has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#4166 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4143 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Level with HICKORY NUT BBQ OF SOUTH CAROLINA on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4169 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 6 years after HICKORY NUT BBQ OF SOUTH CAROLINA did, first appearing in 2019.
⚔ Head-to-head#4151 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1503
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4144 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1479
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V QUE | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.0856 | 143.9428 | 158.71 | top 72% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 168.5256 | 161.1200 | 163.41 | top 57% |
| Pork | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.6916 | 151.9540 | 159.51 | top 71% |
| Brisket | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.2400 | 149.0628 | 157.42 | top 65% |
“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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 4 | 0 | top 70% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 75% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squealin' on the Square | 3 | 15 | 0 | top 62% | 2016-09-30 |
| *Piggin In The Park(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) | 2 | 21 | 0 | top 83% | 2017-06-02 |
The story so far (15 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
3.7 yrs
2013-10-04 → 2017-06-02
Busiest season
2017
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 5 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
SC
5 of 5 contests
Contests visited
2
2 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
5 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 163.41 · weakest Brisket (157.42)
Walk rate
20%
a top-10 call in 1 of 5 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 5 contests
Master average
639.05
out of 720 · 5 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
95
43–98 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
50
5 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1543
average field rating faced — tougher than 32% of rated contests
Longest layoff
1.3 yrs
2015-05-29 → 2016-09-30
Power rating
1479
peak 1479 · #4155 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2013
- First tracked contest Squealin' on the Square
- Peak power rating (1500) Squealin' on the Square
- 2016
- First call Squealin' on the Square
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)168.5256 Squealin' on the Square
- 2017
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score650.6740 *Piggin In The Park(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- Career-best overall score650.6740 *Piggin In The Park(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- Most recent contest *Piggin In The Park(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +1 | Squealin' on the Square | 2016-09-30 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.9 | Piggin' in the Park | 2015-05-29 |
| -6.9 | Squealin' on the Square | 2014-10-03 |
| -3.7 | *Piggin In The Park(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) | 2017-06-02 |
| -0.1 | Squealin' on the Square | 2013-10-04 |
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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 75% | 90.4% | 90.4% |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 58% | 89.8% | 89.8% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 91% | 88.2% | 88.2% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 76% | 87.8% | 87.8% |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 54% | 87.7% | 87.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-06-02 | *Piggin In The Park(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) Woodruff, SC | 33 / 44 (650.6740) | 28 (165.0856) | 28 (162.8228) | 36 (160.5256) | 29 (162.2400) |
| 2016-09-30 | Squealin' on the Square Laurens, SC | 15 / 26 (646.6512) | 20 (161.0856) | 7 (168.5256) | 15 (164.5600) | 20 (152.4800) |
| 2015-05-29 | Piggin' in the Park Woodruff, SC | 21 / 23 (634.7772) | 20 (159.4288) | 16 (161.1544) | 22 (151.9540) | 13 (162.2400) |
| 2014-10-03 | Squealin' on the Square Laurens, SC | 19 / 25 (631.8400) | 23 (143.9428) | 20 (161.1200) | 11 (165.6916) | 14 (161.0856) |
| 2013-10-04 | Squealin' on the Square Laurens, SC | 15 / 28 (631.3028) | 12 (164.0000) | 12 (163.4172) | 21 (154.8228) | 19 (149.0628) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 ↗ | Master | #2035 (101 pts) | #2256 (76 pts) | #1689 (156 pts) | #2110 (101 pts) | #2247 (76 pts) |
| 2015 ↗ | Master | #2111 (68 pts) | #2141 (73 pts) | #2016 (93 pts) | #2213 (63 pts) | #1964 (108 pts) |
| 2013 ↗ | Master | #1827 (103 pts) | #1816 (118 pts) | #1827 (118 pts) | #2425 (73 pts) | #1995 (83 pts) |