Perfect scores on the board
1
perfect 180s
1 perfect 180 in the data — every judge at the table handing back a nine, all in chicken.
- Chicken ×1
Lil John's BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1508
peak 1510 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2013-06-07
latest 2015-09-25
Best ToY finish
#1499
Master 2015
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 49%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
670.76
last 4 Master vs avg 670.76 (+0.00)
Walk rate
75%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±9.02
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 168.56 · weakest Brisket (167.12)
Road miles
558
mi across 4 mapped stops · furthest 245 mi
Schedule strength
23%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1531)
Master avg
670.76 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (4 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
680.4456
career-best overall
94.5% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 680.4456 at The Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown — 94.5% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- 2014-09-26
A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
GIVE IT TO GOD ahead in 100% of their meetings
GIVE IT TO GOD has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
A strong matchup
3–0
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of GOOD CHEW BBQ 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.
Lil John's 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 112 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.
#2901 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1515
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#2892 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1520
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 11 years after Lil John's BBQ did, first appearing in 2024.
⚔ Head-to-head#2903 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1513
No shared contest yet.
Level with Lil John's BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#2877 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1516
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#2879 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1520
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#2875 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1518
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 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 180.0000 🔥 | 162.8570 | 168.56 | top 53% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 176.5714 | 159.9312 | 167.25 | top 41% |
| Pork | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 173.1428 | 158.8000 | 167.83 | top 48% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.1084 | 165.6800 | 167.12 | top 47% |
“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 | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| LA | 3 | 0 | top 48% |
| AR | 1 | 0 | top 50% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 44% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 54% |
The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
2.3 yrs
2013-06-07 → 2015-09-25
Busiest season
2015
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
LA
3 of 4 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
4
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 1 win · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 168.56 · weakest Brisket (167.12)
Walk rate
75%
a top-10 call in 3 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
25%
1 of 4 contests
Master average
670.76
out of 720 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Perfect 180s
1
every judge at the table handing back a nine
Opponents faced
121
73–68 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
558
4 mapped stops · furthest 245 mi
Schedule strength
1531
average field rating faced — tougher than 23% of rated contests
Longest layoff
1.3 yrs
2013-06-07 → 2014-09-26
Power rating
1508
peak 1510 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2013
- First tracked contest Delta Smoke BBQ Contest (JUDGES FULL)
- First call Delta Smoke BBQ Contest (JUDGES FULL)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score678.8568 Delta Smoke BBQ Contest (JUDGES FULL)
- 2014
- First category win (Chicken) The Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown
- First overall top-10 The Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown
- First perfect 180 (Chicken) The Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown
- Career-best overall score680.4456 The Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown
- 2015
- Peak power rating (1510) Sam's Club National BBQ Tour
- Most recent contest Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +7.8 | The Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown | 2014-09-26 |
| +1 | Delta Smoke BBQ Contest (JUDGES FULL) | 2013-06-07 |
| +0.8 | Sam's Club National BBQ Tour | 2015-03-06 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -1.5 | Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown | 2015-09-25 |
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 | 50% | top 56% | 92.2% | 91.9% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 32% | 94.5% | 94.5% |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 50% | 94.3% | 94.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-09-25 | Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown Vidalia, LA | 26 / 45 (659.8512) | 31 (163.9656) | 35 (159.9312) | 22 (168.5372) | 21 (167.4172) |
| 2015-03-06 | Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Shreveport, LA | 16 / 29 (663.8972) | 16 (167.4172) | 5 (172.0000) | 26 (158.8000) | 13 (165.6800) |
| 2014-09-26 | The Jim Bowie BBQ Throwdown Vidalia, LA | 10 / 31 (680.4456) | 1 (180.0000) | 18 (160.5144) | 6 (170.8228) | 11 (169.1084) |
| 2013-06-07 | Delta Smoke BBQ Contest (JUDGES FULL) Wynne, AR | 20 / 40 (678.8568) | 34 (162.8570) | 5 (176.5714) | 13 (173.1428) | 25 (166.2856) |
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 | #1499 (159 pts) | #1594 (159 pts) | #1280 (239 pts) | #1745 (129 pts) | #1384 (194 pts) |
| 2014 ↗ | Master | #1780 (131 pts) | #1158 (281 pts) | #2073 (91 pts) | #1581 (171 pts) | #1875 (126 pts) |