BONES BRIGADE KC

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#1109

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1594

peak 1597 · rated over 27 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2016-07-22

latest 2022-04-08

Best ToY finish

#352

Master 2020

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

5 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 27 contests

Avg finish

top 43%

overall standings

Best overall

694.8000 / 720

Master · Smoke on the Trails

Perfect 180s

Current form

682.32 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 671.17 (+11.15)

Walk rate

37%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

179.4400

Pork Ribs · American Royal World Series of Barbecue-OPEN CONTEST

Consistency

±13.17

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 169.23 · weakest Brisket (165.17)

Road miles

990

mi across 27 mapped stops · furthest 83 mi

Schedule strength

75%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1597)

Purse competed for

$217K

listed at 12 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

GCs in 18 state-championship entries

Master avg

671.17 / 720

27 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (9 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

694.8000 career-best overall

96.5% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 694.8000 at Smoke on the Trails — 96.5% of a perfect 720.

Master
2021-09-10

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

Happy Grillmore has finished one call ahead of BONES BRIGADE KC 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

Their season

2018 their best year

2018 was the year it came together: 4 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 2 category wins, at an average finish in the top 32%.

4 contests
1 overall top-10s
2 category wins
average top 32%

A tough matchup

19–2 behind in the head-to-head

913 BBQ ahead in 90% of their meetings

913 BBQ has come out ahead in 19 of their 21 shared contests.

The weak link

−4.1 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 4.05 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 15% of the time against 11%.

Brisket avg 165.17
Chicken avg 169.23
4 calls in 27 entries

A strong matchup

8–2 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 80% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of S&S BBQ in 8 of their 10 shared contests.

Chicken nemesis

16 of 21 shared chicken entries lost

913 BBQ ahead 76% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, 913 BBQ has out-cooked them in 16 of 21 shared chicken entries.

A September team

Top 31% average finish in September

Something about September: average finish in the top 31% across 7 contests, versus top 43% the rest of the year.

7 September contests
top 43% the rest of the year

The metronome

±1.83% swing around their own average

Their overall lands within ±1.83% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.

averages 93.2% of a perfect score
27 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.

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

First Class BBQ

#1104 of the rated field

1594 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 37
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 24%
Peak: 1601

1–1 in 2 shared contests (50% to BONES BRIGADE KC)

2 contests in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team BONES BRIGADE KC has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

rated over 30 contests
last seen 2025-11-05

⚔ Head-to-head

MAXIMUM LOIN

#1113 of the rated field

1594 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 24
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 13%
Peak: 1594

2–0 in 2 shared contests (100% to BONES BRIGADE KC)

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 24 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 24 contests
last seen 2019-09-27

⚔ Head-to-head

B 3 BBQ

#1105 of the rated field

1594 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 40
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 18%
Peak: 1623

0–3 in 3 shared contests (0% to BONES BRIGADE KC)

A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 40 contests to 27.

rated over 39 contests
last seen 2026-08-14

⚔ Head-to-head

Smokin Brothers Pro Team

#1112 of the rated field

1594 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 14
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 36%
Peak: 1594

1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to BONES BRIGADE KC)

14 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 36% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 14 contests
last seen 2025-06-27

⚔ Head-to-head

SEA SIDE SMOKERS

#1106 of the rated field

1594 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 31
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 39%
Peak: 1612

No shared contest yet.

Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 3 years before BONES BRIGADE KC's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 29 contests

⚔ Head-to-head

Chester's Twisted Que

#1114 of the rated field

1593 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 20
GCs: 3
Top-10s: 60%
Peak: 1593

No shared contest yet.

They turned up 8 years after BONES BRIGADE KC did, first appearing in 2024.

rated over 20 contests
last seen 2026-07-31

⚔ Head-to-head

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
913 BBQ	21	2	19	10%	⚔ compare
SLAPS BBQ	20	2	18	10%	⚔ compare
HIGH i QUE	20	1	19	5%	⚔ compare
ALL FORKED UP FOR Q	17	6	11	35%	⚔ compare
AMERICAN FIRE BBQ	17	2	15	12%	⚔ compare
GETTIN' SAUCED	16	1	15	6%	⚔ compare
4 LEGS UP BBQ	16	1	15	6%	⚔ compare
Sons of a Brisket	15	4	11	27%	⚔ compare
MAN MEAT BBQ	15	1	14	7%	⚔ compare
LOVE 2 Q	14	6	8	43%	⚔ compare
HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN' RUB	13	1	12	8%	⚔ compare
GETTIN' BASTED	13	0	13	0%	⚔ compare
SMOKE THIS BBQ MO	12	4	8	33%	⚔ compare
KC Meat Sweats	11	7	4	64%	⚔ compare
3 PIGS SMOKIN	11	4	7	36%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	27	3	1	1	178.2972	154.2516	169.23	top 43%
Pork Ribs	27	3	1	1	179.4400	155.9200	167.86	top 44%
Pork	27	6	0	2	177.1428	159.3712	168.91	top 41%
Brisket	27	4	1	1	177.7144	139.9772	165.17	top 49%

“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	19	0	top 41%
MO	8	0	top 48%

By contest size

Field	Contests	Avg finish
Small (<20 teams)	1	top 53%
Medium (20–39)	4	top 67%
Large (40+)	22	top 38%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	GCs	Avg finish	Last visit
Smoke in the Spring	2	37	0	top 48%	2022-04-08
Kelley Wilson BBQ (KWBBQ)	2	14	0	top 33%	2021-06-04

The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 5.7 yrs 2016-07-22 → 2022-04-08

Busiest season 2021 6 contests

Contests a season 3.9 across 7 seasons in the data

Cooks most in KS 19 of 27 contests · 2 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 25 2 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 27 entries · 1 win · 3 calls

Strongest meat Chicken averages 169.23 · weakest Brisket (165.17)

Walk rate 37% a top-10 call in 10 of 27 contests

Overall top-10 rate 11% 3 of 27 contests

Master average 671.17 out of 720 · 27 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 1,702 2,145–1,526 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 990 27 mapped stops · furthest 83 mi

Schedule strength 1597 average field rating faced — tougher than 75% of rated contests

Purse competed for $216,730 listed at 12 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships 0 from 18 state-championship entries

Power rating 1594 peak 1597 · #1109 of 6,413 rated

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

2016
Jul 22 First tracked contest The Kansas Smithfield Guinea Pig
Jul 22 First overall past 90% of a perfect score664.5028 The Kansas Smithfield Guinea Pig
2017
Jul 14 First call Wolf Creek Wildblue BBQ
Jul 14 First category win (Chicken) Wolf Creek Wildblue BBQ
2018
May 4 First overall top-10 *Sertoma 48 BBQ
May 4 First overall podium *Sertoma 48 BBQ
Oct 12 10th tracked contest *15th Annual Cookin on the Kaw BBQ Contest
2021
Sep 10 25th tracked contest Smoke on the Trails
Sep 10 Career-best overall score694.8000 Smoke on the Trails
Sep 16 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)179.4400 American Royal World Series of Barbecue-OPEN CONTEST
Sep 16 Peak power rating (1597) American Royal World Series of Barbecue-OPEN CONTEST
2022
Apr 8 Most recent contest Smoke in the Spring

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+16	*Sertoma 48 BBQ	2018-05-04
+13.7	VFW Post 846 Battle of the Pits	2019-04-05
+12.8	37th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue(OPEN)	2016-10-29
+9.9	*Kelley Wilson BBQ	2017-06-02
+9.4	Smoke on the Trails	2021-09-10

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-6.7	Nevada Chamber Low and Slow Barbecue cook off	2020-08-28
-6.1	Farm Stock Smoke Off	2020-07-24
-5.8	The Kansas Smithfield Guinea Pig	2016-07-22
-3.5	Smoke in the Spring	2022-04-08
-3.3	40th American Royal World Series of Barbecue- OPEN CONTEST	2019-09-12

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	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2022	1	0	0	0%	top 62%	93.2%	93.2%
2021	6	0	0	50%	top 35%	96.5%	94.5%
2020	4	0	0	25%	top 62%	95.6%	93.6%
2019	6	2	0	50%	top 36%	95.6%	93%
2018	4	1	2	50%	top 32%	96.2%	94.1%
2017	4	0	1	25%	top 45%	91.6%	90.4%
2016	2	0	0	0%	top 55%	93.6%	92.9%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2022-04-08	Smoke in the Spring 🏅 Osage City, KS	58 / 94 (670.7312)	28 (173.1200)	67 (164.5256)	52 (169.1084)	61 (163.9772)
2021-09-16	American Royal World Series of Barbecue-OPEN CONTEST 🏅 Kansas City, KS	113 / 467 (674.7656)	138 (170.2628)	4 (179.4400)	270 (163.4172)	279 (161.6456)
2021-09-10	Smoke on the Trails 🏅 Gardner, KS	11 / 53 (694.8000)	18 (174.2628)	21 (169.7028)	18 (173.1316)	5 (177.7028)
2021-08-21	BBQ & Fly in on the River - Day 2 🏅 Excelsior Springs, MO	11 / 30 (687.3484)	16 (174.8456)	23 (165.1200)	2 (176.5600)	15 (170.8228)
2021-08-20	BBQ & Fly in on the River - Day 1 🏅 Excelsior Springs, MO	20 / 40 (683.9312)	12 (174.2856)	16 (172.0000)	26 (166.8228)	16 (170.8228)
2021-06-04	Kelley Wilson BBQ (KWBBQ) 🏅 Kansas City, MO	24 / 55 (659.8624)	21 (168.5484)	18 (168.5944)	19 (169.1084)	39 (153.6112)
2021-04-09	Smoke in the Spring 🏅 Osage City, KS	37 / 105 (682.2168)	13 (176.5600)	82 (162.8228)	23 (173.7028)	53 (169.1312)
2020-09-11	Smoke on the Trails 🏅 Gardner, KS	14 / 48 (688.5028)	18 (173.1200)	11 (173.7144)	11 (172.5600)	26 (169.1084)
2020-08-28	Nevada Chamber Low and Slow Barbecue cook off 🏅 Nevada, MO	31 / 37 (663.2684)	30 (166.2400)	27 (167.9772)	29 (168.5256)	32 (160.5256)
2020-08-14	BBQ & Fly in on the River 🏅 Excelsior Springs, MO	27 / 55 (679.8856)	39 (167.3712)	13 (173.1200)	31 (169.1200)	19 (170.2744)
2020-07-24	Farm Stock Smoke Off 🏅 Lane, KS	18 / 21 (664.4456)	19 (165.6800)	20 (157.6456)	5 (177.1428)	18 (163.9772)
2019-09-27	Shawnee Great Grillers State Championship 🏅 Shawnee, KS	16 / 102 (673.0512)	47 (166.2400)	32 (167.4056)	26 (170.2628)	19 (169.1428)
2019-09-12	40th American Royal World Series of Barbecue- OPEN CONTEST 🏅 Kansas City, KS	194 / 468 (665.0512)	198 (167.4056)	288 (162.8456)	231 (165.6800)	145 (169.1200)
2019-08-31	Crimson & Blue BBQ 🏅 Lawrence, KS	8 / 15 (671.9432)	9 (166.8344)	12 (167.4172)	2 (175.4172)	10 (162.2744)
2019-08-16	BBQ and Fly In on the River 🏅 Excelsior Springs, MO	44 / 68 (659.2920)	25 (170.8344)	45 (162.8460)	44 (163.9428)	43 (161.6688)
2019-05-31	Kelly Wilson BBQ (KWBBQ) 🏅 Kansas City, MO	18 / 56 (661.6116)	45 (154.2516)	29 (161.1316)	6 (175.4056)	12 (170.8228)
2019-04-05	VFW Post 846 Battle of the Pits 🏅 Overland Park, KS	6 / 53 (688.5256)	13 (172.5600)	13 (169.7256)	7 (171.9772)	7 (174.2628)
2018-10-12	*15th Annual Cookin on the Kaw BBQ Contest Desoto, KS	41 / 69 (670.6968)	33 (169.6800)	32 (167.9772)	53 (162.7884)	31 (170.2512)
2018-09-15	39th American Royal World Series of Barbecue (OPEN) Kansas City, KS	153 / 467 (672.5144)	167 (169.1428)	51 (174.2744)	40 (174.8456)	376 (154.2516)
2018-06-08	*Smoke Out Hunger BBQ Challenge Kansas City, KS	13 / 46 (673.6688)	14 (169.1544)	1 (177.7028)	21 (165.1316)	25 (161.6800)
2018-05-04	*Sertoma 48 BBQ Lawrence, KS	3 / 41 (692.4912)	5 (173.7028)	6 (171.9656)	8 (169.1084)	1 (177.7144)
2017-09-01	38th American Royal World Series of Barbecue (OPEN) Kansas City, KS	224 / 407 (658.1372)	325 (157.6688)	196 (165.6800)	316 (159.3712)	23 (175.4172)
2017-07-14	Wolf Creek Wildblue BBQ Burlington, KS	16 / 26 (647.8288)	1 (178.2972)	19 (155.9200)	11 (168.0116)	26 (145.6000)
2017-06-23	Great Lenexa BBQ Battle-Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS	77 / 184 (639.3712)	39 (166.2628)	21 (169.7256)	71 (163.4056)	171 (139.9772)
2017-06-02	*Kelley Wilson BBQ Kansas City, MO	14 / 61 (659.3484)	37 (158.7884)	17 (166.8800)	16 (166.8572)	11 (166.8228)
2016-10-29	37th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue(OPEN) Kansas City, KS	112 / 557 (673.6680)	42 (174.2856)	318 (162.8456)	189 (167.9884)	144 (168.5484)
2016-07-22	The Kansas Smithfield Guinea Pig Desoto, KS	44 / 49 (664.5028)	31 (169.7372)	17 (173.1428)	48 (161.0972)	42 (160.5256)

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
2022 ↗	Master	#1309 (60 pts)	#1341 (60 pts)	#1404 (60 pts)	#1348 (60 pts)	#1333 (60 pts)
2021 ↗	Master	#362 (525 pts)	#353 (580 pts)	#331 (615 pts)	#330 (630 pts)	#355 (575 pts)
2020 ↗	Master	#352 (316 pts)	#399 (291 pts)	#325 (381 pts)	#291 (421 pts)	#406 (291 pts)
2019 ↗	Master	#529 (625 pts)	#702 (485 pts)	#720 (465 pts)	#454 (760 pts)	#547 (615 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#705 (475 pts)	#810 (420 pts)	#633 (580 pts)	#908 (355 pts)	#755 (465 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#1004 (331 pts)	#858 (456 pts)	#1082 (321 pts)	#1034 (346 pts)	#1088 (311 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#1775 (120 pts)	#1883 (120 pts)	#1672 (160 pts)	#1872 (120 pts)	#1839 (120 pts)