A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
BUFFALO'S BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
BUFFALO'S BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
BENEFICIAL SMOKE
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1497
peak 1504 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2016-05-20
latest 2017-04-01
Best ToY finish
#1168
Master 2016
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 64%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
649.04
last 4 Master vs avg 649.04 (+0.00)
Walk rate
75%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±8.02
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 168.42 · weakest Brisket (155.96)
Road miles
225
mi across 4 mapped stops · furthest 68 mi
Schedule strength
72%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1591)
Master avg
649.04 / 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 strong matchup
3–1
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 75% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of BLOWIN' SMOKE NWA in 3 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.
BENEFICIAL SMOKE 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 5 years after BENEFICIAL SMOKE did, first appearing in 2021.
⚔ Head-to-head#3323 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1497
No shared contest yet.
Level with BENEFICIAL SMOKE 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 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.2628 | 164.5484 | 168.42 | top 48% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 172.0000 | 150.8116 | 160.83 | top 60% |
| Pork | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 170.8688 | 157.0856 | 163.83 | top 57% |
| Brisket | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 167.4400 | 146.2400 | 155.96 | 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 state / province
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| AR | 2 | 0 | top 62% |
| OK | 2 | 0 | top 66% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 62% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 67% |
The story so far (14 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
0.9 yrs
2016-05-20 → 2017-04-01
Busiest season
2016
3 contests
Contests a season
2
across 2 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
AR
2 of 4 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
4
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 168.42 · weakest Brisket (155.96)
Walk rate
75%
a top-10 call in 3 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 4 contests
Master average
649.04
out of 720 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
115
54–99 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
225
4 mapped stops · furthest 68 mi
Schedule strength
1591
average field rating faced — tougher than 72% of rated contests
Power rating
1497
peak 1504 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2016
- First tracked contest Grand Lake BBQ & Festival
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)172.0000 Grand Lake BBQ & Festival
- First call Smoke on the water-Annual Carlton Landing BBQ Competition
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score659.9088 Smoke on the water-Annual Carlton Landing BBQ Competition
- Career-best overall score659.9088 Smoke on the water-Annual Carlton Landing BBQ Competition
- Peak power rating (1504) Bikes Blues and BBQ
- 2017
- Most recent contest *Smoke on the Border Gravette Chambers of Commerce
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +5.7 | Smoke on the water-Annual Carlton Landing BBQ Competition | 2016-06-17 |
| +4.7 | Bikes Blues and BBQ | 2016-09-23 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -6.9 | *Smoke on the Border Gravette Chambers of Commerce | 2017-04-01 |
| -6 | Grand Lake BBQ & Festival | 2016-05-20 |
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 | 100% | top 78% | 88.6% | 88.6% |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67% | top 60% | 91.7% | 90.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-04-01 | *Smoke on the Border Gravette Chambers of Commerce Gravette, AR | 29 / 37 (637.6004) | 22 (164.5484) | 33 (150.8116) | 10 (170.8688) | 29 (151.3716) |
| 2016-09-23 | Bikes Blues and BBQ Fayetteville, AR | 20 / 43 (651.3256) | 14 (170.2628) | 28 (156.5372) | 33 (157.0856) | 10 (167.4400) |
| 2016-06-17 | Smoke on the water-Annual Carlton Landing BBQ Competition Carlton Landing, OK | 14 / 31 (659.9088) | 9 (169.7144) | 16 (163.9888) | 11 (167.4056) | 19 (158.8000) |
| 2016-05-20 | Grand Lake BBQ & Festival Langley, OK | 40 / 46 (647.3372) | 32 (169.1544) | 15 (172.0000) | 40 (159.9428) | 45 (146.2400) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #2212 (60 pts) | #2178 (75 pts) | #2304 (60 pts) | #1707 (135 pts) | #2266 (60 pts) |
| 2016 ↗ | Master | #1168 (256 pts) | #1089 (316 pts) | #1205 (271 pts) | #1302 (246 pts) | #1154 (281 pts) |