CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ

CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 8 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2018. Their best overall finish is 21st of 30 at the Big Blue BBQ Championship (2016). They are ranked #4947 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

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At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#4,947

of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1464

peak 1464 · rated over 7 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

May 6, 2016

latest Jul 6, 2018 · 2.2 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#1415

Master 2016 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

1 podium

Overall top-10s

0% of 8 contests

Avg finish

top 80%

overall standings

Best overall

654.8452 / 720

Master · Q for a Cause

Perfect 180s

Current form

627.76 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 626.66 (+1.09)

Walk rate

38%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

174.8572

Pork · Big Blue BBQ Championship

Consistency

±15.25

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 161.44 · weakest Brisket (145.52)

Road miles

818

across 8 mapped stops · furthest 186 mi

Schedule strength

69%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1587)

Master avg

626.66 / 720

7 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (3 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

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.

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

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the 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)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.

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

Not Bad BBQ

#4,958 of the rated field

1464 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 14%
Peak: 1464

Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 7 contests
last seen Aug 7, 2026

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Jay Miller and the Experience

#4,954 of the rated field

1464 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1464

They turned up 6 years after CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ did, first appearing in 2022.

rated over 7 contests
last seen Aug 22, 2025

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TEMPLE OF THE HOG

#4,956 of the rated field

1464 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 14%
Peak: 1509

They've been 1509 at their best, 45 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 7 contests
last seen Apr 21, 2023

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PIT PIGS

#4,943 of the rated field

1464 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1464

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

rated over 7 contests
last seen Aug 24, 2018

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CHEW, FAT BOY! CHEW! BBQ

#4,965 of the rated field

1464 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1464

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.

rated over 7 contests

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Piggy Q

#4,964 of the rated field

1464 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1464

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.

rated over 7 contests

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Familiar 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	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	7	0	0	167.4056	144.5372	158.58	top 75%
Pork Ribs	7	1	0	168.5828	153.1316	161.44	top 60%
Pork	7	2	1	174.8572	151.3828	161.12	top 64%
Brisket	7	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 field size and state

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	3	0	top 83%
Large (40+)	4	0	top 77%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	Avg finish
KS	3	top 83%
MO	2	top 82%
NE	2	top 72%

Repeat visits (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%	Jun 2, 2017

More numbers

Busiest season 2016 3 contests

Contests a season 2 across 4 seasons in the data

Most contests held in NE 3 of 8 contests · 3 states in all

Contests visited 6 1 of them more than once

Opponents faced 266 finished ahead 67 times, behind 280

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

20183 milestones

Apr 20 First overall past 90% of a perfect score654.8452 Q for a Cause
Apr 20 Career-best overall score654.8452 Q for a Cause
Jul 6 Most recent contest Johnson County BBQ Challenge (JUDGES FULL)

20163 milestones

May 6 Peak power rating (1490) Apple Blossom Bar-B-Q
Jun 3 First call Big Blue BBQ Championship
Jun 3 Career-best single call (Pork)174.8572 Big Blue BBQ Championship

20151 milestone

Jul 10 First tracked contest Sauce & Cycles

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+1.7	Q for a Cause	Apr 20, 2018

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-10	Apple Blossom Bar-B-Q	May 6, 2016
-8.9	Smoke in the Spring (WFC Quilfyer)	Apr 7, 2017
-7.9	Big Blue BBQ Championship (TEAM FULL)	Jun 2, 2017
-5.2	24th Annual State BBQ Championship of Nebraska	Aug 5, 2016
-3.4	Big Blue BBQ Championship	Jun 3, 2016

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

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)
2018	2	50%	top 69%	91%	90%
2017	2	0%	top 89%	85.1%	84.7%
2016	3	67%	top 81%	86.8%	86.6%
2015	1	0%	—	—	—

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Jul 6, 2018	Johnson County BBQ Challenge (JUDGES FULL) Warrensburg, MO	35 / 47 (641.5308)	23 (167.4056)	34 (162.7884)	34 (160.5256)	39 (150.8112)
Apr 20, 2018	Q for a Cause Papillion, NE	26 / 41 (654.8452)	27 (164.5828)	9 (168.5828)	37 (154.2740)	13 (167.4056)
Jun 2, 2017	Big Blue BBQ Championship (TEAM FULL) Marysville, KS	31 / 35 (612.3656)	27 (159.3944)	25 (159.9428)	30 (155.9656)	32 (137.0628)
Apr 7, 2017	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)
Aug 5, 2016	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)
Jun 3, 2016	Big Blue BBQ Championship Marysville, KS	21 / 30 (622.8004)	29 (144.5372)	22 (153.1316)	3 (174.8572)	23 (150.2744)
May 6, 2016	Apple Blossom Bar-B-Q St. Joseph, MO	28 / 31 (625.0516)	30 (152.5372)	21 (161.1200)	28 (156.5600)	23 (154.8344)
Jul 10, 2015	Sauce & Cycles Falls City, NE	—	—	—	—	—

CLEVELAND PYTHONS BBQ

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Master avg

Storylines (3 found in their record)

A tough matchup

The weak link

The metronome

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

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

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

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

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

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

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

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)