BORDER BBQ

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

Power ranking

#5431

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1452

peak 1452 · rated over 10 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2013-10-03

latest 2015-10-03

Best ToY finish

#1251

Master 2014

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

0 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 10 contests

Avg finish

top 72%

overall standings

Best overall

658.7768 / 720

Master · KTD Smokin' Gobbler Cook-Off

Perfect 180s

Current form

605.61 ▼

last 5 Master vs avg 619.97 (-14.36)

Walk rate

20%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

170.8456

Pork · 35th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open

Consistency

±47.75

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 162.95 · weakest Brisket (140.71)

Road miles

2,547

mi across 10 mapped stops · furthest 407 mi

Schedule strength

27%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1536)

Master avg

619.97 / 720

10 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (6 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.

Their season

2014 their best year

2014 was the year it came together: 4 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 60%.

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

A tough matchup

8–0 behind in the head-to-head

SHIGGIN & GRINNIN ahead in 100% of their meetings

SHIGGIN & GRINNIN has come out ahead in 8 of their 8 shared contests.

The weak link

−22.2 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 22.24 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 10% of the time against 10%.

Brisket avg 140.71
Chicken avg 162.95
1 calls in 10 entries

A strong matchup

4–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of PIG APPROVED BBQ in 4 of their 4 shared contests.

Chicken nemesis

6 of 8 shared chicken entries lost

SHIGGIN & GRINNIN ahead 75% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, SHIGGIN & GRINNIN has out-cooked them in 6 of 8 shared chicken entries.

Going the wrong way

-28 rating points in a year

The rating has slipped 28 points across 5 contests since 2015-05-01 — from 1480 down to 1452.

5 contests since 2015-05-01
now 1452

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.

113 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

IN HOG HEAVEN

#5441 of the rated field

1452 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1452

1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to BORDER BBQ)

One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team BORDER BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

rated over 10 contests
last seen 2019-05-25

⚔ Head-to-head

Smokin' G's BBQ

#5432 of the rated field

1452 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 18%
Peak: 1452

1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to BORDER BBQ)

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 11 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 11 contests
last seen 2018-10-05

⚔ Head-to-head

Swine & Steer BBQ

#5436 of the rated field

1452 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1452

0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to BORDER BBQ)

Careers of much the same size, 8 contests to 10, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2019-03-15

⚔ Head-to-head

SMOKIN ELVISES

#5424 of the rated field

1452 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 90
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 10%
Peak: 1605

0–3 in 3 shared contests (0% to BORDER BBQ)

90 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 10% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 89 contests
last seen 2026-04-10

⚔ Head-to-head

Grills Gone Wild

#5449 of the rated field

1452 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 10%
Peak: 1452

No shared contest yet.

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

rated over 10 contests
last seen 2026-03-20

⚔ Head-to-head

SIMMONS SECOND CHANCE RANCH BBQ

#5446 of the rated field

1452 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1452

No shared contest yet.

Level with BORDER BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 11 contests
last seen 2018-09-28

⚔ Head-to-head

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SHIGGIN & GRINNIN	8	0	8	0%	⚔ compare
T-MAC SMOKIN	7	0	7	0%	⚔ compare
CITY SLICKERS BBQ	7	0	7	0%	⚔ compare
Freeman Brothers BBQ	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare
SPITFIRE	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
THE REAL SMOKIN ACES	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
TIPPYCANOE BBQ CREW	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
GIVE IT TO GOD	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
QUETOPIA	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
A FINE SWINE	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	10	1	170.2856	153.1200	162.95	top 52%
Pork Ribs	10	0	166.2512	141.1204	155.47	top 73%
Pork	10	0	170.8456	147.9656	160.84	top 58%
Brisket	10	1	169.7028	20.0000	140.71	top 72%

“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
MN	4	top 70%
MO	3	top 67%
WI	3	top 79%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	4	0	top 81%
Large (40+)	6	0	top 66%

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

On the trail 2 yrs 2013-10-03 → 2015-10-03

Busiest season 2015 5 contests

Contests a season 3.3 across 3 seasons in the data

Cooks most in MN 4 of 10 contests · 3 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 10 0 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 10 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls

Strongest meat Chicken averages 162.95 · weakest Brisket (140.71)

Walk rate 20% a top-10 call in 2 of 10 contests

Overall top-10 rate 0% 0 of 10 contests

Master average 619.97 out of 720 · 10 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 1,170 579–1,396 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 2,547 10 mapped stops · furthest 407 mi

Schedule strength 1536 average field rating faced — tougher than 27% of rated contests

Power rating 1452 peak 1452 · #5431 of 6,413 rated

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

2013
Oct 3 First tracked contest 34th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open
2014
May 2 First call The Masters in May
May 2 Peak power rating (1493) The Masters in May
Oct 2 First overall past 90% of a perfect score650.2056 35th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open
Oct 2 Career-best single call (Pork)170.8456 35th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open
2015
Sep 18 Career-best overall score658.7768 KTD Smokin' Gobbler Cook-Off
Oct 3 10th tracked contest 36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open
Oct 3 Most recent contest 36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+0.4	The Masters in May	2014-05-02
+0.4	35th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open	2014-10-02

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-13.1	Grillin' in Grafton	2015-06-26
-9.3	Great Northern BBQ	2015-07-31
-7.7	The Masters In May	2015-05-01
-7.6	34th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open	2013-10-03
-4.9	36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open	2015-10-03

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)

Season by season

Season	Contests	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2015	5	0%	top 81%	91.5%	84.1%
2014	4	50%	top 60%	90.3%	88.9%
2013	1	0%	top 77%	85.1%	85.1%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2015-10-03	36th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque- Open Kansas City, MO	418 / 606 (635.9540)	268 (165.1200)	277 (164.6056)	206 (167.3828)	574 (138.8456)
2015-09-18	KTD Smokin' Gobbler Cook-Off Worthington, MN	17 / 26 (658.7768)	21 (159.9656)	15 (166.2512)	16 (165.7372)	13 (166.8228)
2015-07-31	Great Northern BBQ Brainerd, MN	23 / 26 (635.8168)	13 (169.7028)	22 (156.5028)	21 (157.1200)	22 (152.4912)
2015-06-26	Grillin' in Grafton Grafton, WI	33 / 33 (482.2288)	27 (154.2860)	24 (159.9772)	33 (147.9656)	33 (20.0000)
2015-05-01	The Masters In May Appleton, WI	47 / 57 (615.2800)	19 (164.5256)	38 (153.1084)	49 (152.5600)	53 (145.0860)
2014-10-02	35th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open Kansas City, MO	312 / 552 (650.2056)	305 (163.9656)	454 (154.2628)	111 (170.8456)	295 (161.1316)
2014-07-18	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Woodbury, MN	21 / 30 (636.4800)	13 (166.8572)	22 (155.4284)	12 (167.4172)	27 (146.7772)
2014-05-16	Minnesota in May Falcon Heights, MN	33 / 58 (639.3944)	6 (170.2856)	45 (152.5832)	51 (154.2400)	32 (162.2856)
2014-05-02	The Masters in May Fremont, WI	34 / 62 (633.0744)	26 (161.6912)	59 (141.1204)	24 (160.5600)	8 (169.7028)
2013-10-03	34th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open Kansas City, MO	411 / 535 (612.4688)	414 (153.1200)	421 (150.8228)	183 (164.5716)	464 (143.9544)

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
2014 ↗	Master	#1251 (225 pts)	#1012 (340 pts)	#1327 (225 pts)	#1327 (230 pts)	#1026 (320 pts)