A tough matchup
5–0
behind in the head-to-head
R BUTTS R SMOKIN ahead in 100% of their meetings
R BUTTS R SMOKIN has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.
CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1464
peak 1464 · rated over 7 contests ⓘ
Contests
8
in the data
First seen
2016-05-06
latest 2018-07-06
Best ToY finish
#1415
Master 2016
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 8 contests
Avg finish
top 80%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
627.76 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 626.66 (+1.09)
Walk rate
38%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±15.25
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 161.44 · weakest Brisket (145.52)
Road miles
818
mi across 8 mapped stops · furthest 186 mi
Schedule strength
69%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1586)
Master avg
626.66 / 720
7 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (3 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.
The weak link
−15.9
points behind their best meat
Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 15.93 points below their pork ribs, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 14%.
- Brisket avg 145.52
- Pork Ribs avg 161.44
- 0 calls in 7 entries
The metronome
±2.12%
swing around their own average
Their overall lands within ±2.12% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.
- averages 87.0% of a perfect score
- 8 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.
134 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4930 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1464
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4925 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1464
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 6 years after CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ did, first appearing in 2022.
⚔ Head-to-head#4927 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1509
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1509 at their best, 45 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4921 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1464
No shared contest yet.
Level with CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4922 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1464
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4944 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1464
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2015, 3 years before CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R BUTTS R SMOKIN | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.4056 | 144.5372 | 158.58 | top 75% |
| Pork Ribs | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 168.5828 | 153.1316 | 161.44 | top 60% |
| Pork | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 174.8572 | 151.3828 | 161.12 | top 64% |
| Brisket | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.4056 | 123.9660 | 145.52 | top 79% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| KS | 3 | 0 | top 83% |
| MO | 2 | 0 | top 82% |
| NE | 2 | 0 | top 72% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 83% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 0 | top 77% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Big Blue BBQ Championship(TEAM FULL) | 2 | 21 | 0 | top 79% | 2017-06-02 |
The story so far (14 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
2.2 yrs
2016-05-06 → 2018-07-06
Busiest season
2016
3 contests
Contests a season
2
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
NE
3 of 8 contests · 3 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
6
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
7 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 161.44 · weakest Brisket (145.52)
Walk rate
38%
a top-10 call in 3 of 8 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 8 contests
Master average
626.66
out of 720 · 7 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
267
67–280 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
818
8 mapped stops · furthest 186 mi
Schedule strength
1586
average field rating faced — tougher than 69% of rated contests
Power rating
1464
peak 1464 · #4932 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2015
- First tracked contest Sauce & Cycles
- 2016
- Peak power rating (1490) Apple Blossom Bar-B-Q
- First call Big Blue BBQ Championship
- Career-best single call (Pork)174.8572 Big Blue BBQ Championship
- 2018
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score654.8452 Q for a Cause
- Career-best overall score654.8452 Q for a Cause
- Most recent contest Johnson County BBQ Challenge(JUDGES FULL)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +1.7 | Q for a Cause | 2018-04-20 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.1 | Apple Blossom Bar-B-Q | 2016-05-06 |
| -8.9 | Smoke in the Spring (WFC Quilfyer) | 2017-04-07 |
| -7.9 | *Big Blue BBQ Championship(TEAM FULL) | 2017-06-02 |
| -5.2 | 24th Annual State BBQ Championship of Nebraska | 2016-08-05 |
| -3.4 | Big Blue BBQ Championship | 2016-06-03 |
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)
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 69% | 91% | 90% |
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 89% | 85.1% | 84.7% |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67% | top 81% | 86.8% | 86.6% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-07-06 | Johnson County BBQ Challenge(JUDGES FULL) Warrensburg, MO | 35 / 47 (641.5308) | 23 (167.4056) | 34 (162.7884) | 34 (160.5256) | 39 (150.8112) |
| 2018-04-20 | Q for a Cause Papillion, NE | 26 / 41 (654.8452) | 27 (164.5828) | 9 (168.5828) | 37 (154.2740) | 13 (167.4056) |
| 2017-06-02 | *Big Blue BBQ Championship(TEAM FULL) Marysville, KS | 31 / 35 (612.3656) | 27 (159.3944) | 25 (159.9428) | 30 (155.9656) | 32 (137.0628) |
| 2017-04-07 | Smoke in the Spring (WFC Quilfyer) Osage City, KS | 89 / 100 (607.3032) | 53 (166.8228) | 48 (165.1316) | 94 (151.3828) | 99 (123.9660) |
| 2016-08-05 | 24th Annual State BBQ Championship of Nebraska Omaha, NE | 57 / 70 (622.7316) | 60 (154.8000) | 45 (159.3944) | 4 (174.2856) | 69 (134.2516) |
| 2016-06-03 | Big Blue BBQ Championship Marysville, KS | 21 / 30 (622.8004) | 29 (144.5372) | 22 (153.1316) | 3 (174.8572) | 23 (150.2744) |
| 2016-05-06 | Apple Blossom Bar-B-Q St. Joseph, MO | 28 / 31 (625.0516) | 30 (152.5372) | 21 (161.1200) | 28 (156.5600) | 23 (154.8344) |
| 2015-07-10 | Sauce & Cycles Falls City, NE | — | — | — | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 ↗ | Master | #1524 (120 pts) | #1542 (130 pts) | #1271 (205 pts) | #1610 (120 pts) | #1330 (180 pts) |
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #1722 (120 pts) | #1802 (120 pts) | #1822 (120 pts) | #1799 (120 pts) | #1794 (120 pts) |
| 2016 ↗ | Master | #1415 (191 pts) | #1630 (171 pts) | #1439 (206 pts) | #789 (496 pts) | #1468 (191 pts) |