A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
FOUR SMOKING GUYS ahead in 100% of their meetings
FOUR SMOKING GUYS has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1498
peak 1500 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2014-06-20
latest 2015-08-29
Best ToY finish
#1241
Master 2014
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 60%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
641.37
last 4 Master vs avg 641.37 (+0.00)
Walk rate
100%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±2.07
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 164.54 · weakest Pork (154.27)
Road miles
14
mi across 4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
33%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1544)
Master avg
641.37 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (1 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.
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.
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS BBQ has 4 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 129 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#3321 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#3297 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1514
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 7 years after CIRCLE OF FRIENDS BBQ did, first appearing in 2021.
⚔ Head-to-head#3295 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1507
No shared contest yet.
Level with CIRCLE OF FRIENDS BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3301 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1506
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#3296 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1506
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#3313 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 167.3828 | 160.5256 | 164.54 | top 44% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 169.7372 | 154.8688 | 164.43 | top 36% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.5140 | 146.8456 | 154.27 | top 78% |
| Brisket | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 163.9772 | 150.8228 | 158.13 | top 48% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 2 | 0 | top 59% |
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 56% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 65% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Best BBQ Chef Competition | 2 | 8 | 0 | top 59% | 2015-08-29 |
| Sun BBQ Fest | 2 | 18 | 0 | top 61% | 2015-06-13 |
The story so far (14 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
1.2 yrs
2014-06-20 → 2015-08-29
Busiest season
2015
2 contests
Contests a season
2
across 2 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
CT
4 of 4 contests
Contests visited
2
2 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 0 wins · 3 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 164.54 · weakest Pork (154.27)
Walk rate
100%
a top-10 call in 4 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
25%
1 of 4 contests
Master average
641.37
out of 720 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
73
45–67 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
14
4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1544
average field rating faced — tougher than 33% of rated contests
Power rating
1498
peak 1500 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2014
- First tracked contest Sun BBQ Fest
- First call Sun BBQ Fest
- Career-best overall score644.5260 Sun BBQ Fest
- First overall top-10 The Best BBQ Chef Competition
- Peak power rating (1500) The Best BBQ Chef Competition
- 2015
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)169.7372 Sun BBQ Fest
- Most recent contest The Best BBQ Chef Competition
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +0.1 | The Best BBQ Chef Competition | 2014-09-27 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -2 | Sun BBQ Fest | 2015-06-13 |
| -0.5 | The Best BBQ Chef Competition | 2015-08-29 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 65% | 89% | 88.9% |
| 2014 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 55% | 89.5% | 89.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-08-29 | The Best BBQ Chef Competition New London, CT | 11 / 17 (638.7196) | 10 (163.4056) | 8 (163.9772) | 11 (160.5140) | 14 (150.8228) |
| 2015-06-13 | Sun BBQ Fest Uncasville, CT | 34 / 52 (641.1312) | 21 (166.8456) | 7 (169.7372) | 48 (146.8456) | 28 (157.7028) |
| 2014-09-27 | The Best BBQ Chef Competition New London, CT | 8 / 15 (641.0972) | 8 (160.5256) | 2 (169.1200) | 13 (151.4400) | 4 (160.0116) |
| 2014-06-20 | Sun BBQ Fest Uncasville, CT | 18 / 32 (644.5260) | 7 (167.3828) | 22 (154.8688) | 22 (158.2972) | 9 (163.9772) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 ↗ | Master | #1448 (172 pts) | #1414 (197 pts) | #1096 (302 pts) | #1554 (172 pts) | #1570 (157 pts) |
| 2014 ↗ | Master | #1241 (227 pts) | #1117 (297 pts) | #1063 (312 pts) | #1574 (172 pts) | #992 (332 pts) |