The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
HotMess BBQ has finished one call ahead of Smokin' Hog Butts 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
Smokin' Hog Butts
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1467
peak 1467 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2024-05-31
latest 2026-06-26
Best ToY finish
#927
Master 2026
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 85%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
630.82
last 4 Master vs avg 630.82 (+0.00)
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±12.02
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 160.54 · weakest Brisket (153.51)
Road miles
133
mi across 4 mapped stops · furthest 40 mi
Schedule strength
42%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1555)
Purse competed for
$47K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 4 state-championship entries
Master avg
630.82 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (2 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.
A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
WOOD HOOK BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
WOOD HOOK BBQ has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 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.
Smokin' Hog Butts 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 146 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.
#4793 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1511
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Smokin' Hog Butts)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Smokin' Hog Butts has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#4755 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1467
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#4796 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1467
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2018, 6 years before Smokin' Hog Butts's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#4774 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1510
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1510 at their best, 43 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4771 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1467
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before Smokin' Hog Butts's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4789 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1467
No shared contest yet.
Level with Smokin' Hog Butts on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161.6916 | 155.9884 | 159.41 | top 82% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.2856 | 150.7772 | 160.54 | top 76% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.5372 | 153.6344 | 157.37 | top 86% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159.3828 | 147.9428 | 153.51 | top 86% |
“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) | 2 | 0 | top 92% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 78% |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
2.1 yrs
2024-05-31 → 2026-06-26
Busiest season
2025
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
KS
4 of 4 contests
Contests visited
4
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 160.54 · weakest Brisket (153.51)
Walk rate
0%
a top-10 call in 0 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 4 contests
Master average
630.82
out of 720 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
272
71–252 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
133
4 mapped stops · furthest 40 mi
Schedule strength
1555
average field rating faced — tougher than 42% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$46,750
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 4 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
1.1 yrs
2025-06-06 → 2026-06-26
Power rating
1467
peak 1467 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2024
- First tracked contest McLouth BBQ Blowout 33rd Annual
- Peak power rating (1489) McLouth BBQ Blowout 33rd Annual
- 2026
- Career-best overall score647.2800 The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)170.2856 The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship
- Most recent contest The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.3 | McLouth BBQ Blowout 33rd Annual | 2024-05-31 |
| -10.7 | McLouth BBQ Blowout 34th Annual | 2025-06-06 |
| -10.5 | Smoke in the Spring | 2025-04-11 |
| -0.5 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship | 2026-06-26 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 60% | 89.9% | 89.9% |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 87.9% | 86.6% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 91% | 87.4% | 87.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-26 | The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS | 94 / 157 (647.2800) | 98 (161.6916) | 46 (170.2856) | 120 (158.2400) | 110 (157.0628) |
| 2025-06-06 | McLouth BBQ Blowout 34th Annual 🏅 McLouth, KS | 26 / 28 (632.9484) | 26 (155.9884) | 25 (160.5260) | 26 (157.0512) | 23 (159.3828) |
| 2025-04-11 | Smoke in the Spring 🏅 Osage City, KS | 89 / 92 (613.4860) | 87 (161.1316) | 90 (150.7772) | 88 (153.6344) | 89 (147.9428) |
| 2024-05-31 | McLouth BBQ Blowout 33rd Annual 🏅 McLouth, KS | 32 / 35 (629.5540) | 27 (158.8112) | 30 (160.5600) | 28 (160.5372) | 33 (149.6456) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #927 (60 pts) | #1010 (60 pts) | #1051 (60 pts) | #970 (60 pts) | #950 (60 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #957 (113 pts) | #1026 (113 pts) | #1102 (113 pts) | #1002 (113 pts) | #913 (123 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1182 (60 pts) | #1242 (60 pts) | #1317 (60 pts) | #1231 (60 pts) | #1204 (60 pts) |