Thin Blue Swine

Thin Blue Swine is a competition barbecue team with 28 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2026. They have won 2 Grand Championships, most recently at the Poosa-Q (2019), and finished Reserve Grand Champion once. They are ranked #840 of 6,485 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#840

of 6,485 rated · rankings

Rating

1624

peak 1629 · rated over 26 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Mar 8, 2019

latest Jun 5, 2026 · 7.2 years on the trail

Grand champs

1 reserve · wins it all 7% of the time

Category wins

11 podiums

Overall top-10s

54% of 28 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s · 2 straight GCs

Avg finish

top 32%

overall standings

Best overall

506.7544 / 540

Backyard · Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY)

Perfect 180s

1 🔥

Current form

344.53 ▲

last 5 Backyard vs avg 342.21 (+2.32)

Walk rate

82%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

180 🔥

Pork Ribs · High on the Hog Festival

Consistency

±5.33

spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 170.06 · weakest Pork (164.07)

Road miles

1,794

across 28 mapped stops · furthest 122 mi

Schedule strength

42%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1556)

Purse competed for

$161K

listed at 21 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

1 🏅

won from 9 state-championship entries

Backyard avg

342.21 / 360

19 Backyard contests · 2 GCs

Backyard (3-meat) avg

495.38 / 540

7 Backyard (3-meat) contests · 0 GCs

These overall scores sit on different scales (Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), so they're kept separate — averaging them together would be misleading.

This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.

Storylines (15 found in their record)

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

Perfect scores on the board

1 perfect 180

1 perfect 180 in the data — every judge at the table handing back a nine, all in pork ribs.

Pork Ribs ×1

Giant slayer

48 teams beaten in one weekend

Took the Grand Championship over a 48-team field at Poosa-Q.

Jun 14, 2019

Happy hunting ground

Top 12% average finish here

Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) is their spot: an average finish in the top 12% across 2 visits.

2 visits
best finish 2nd
average top 12%

They almost always walk

82% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 23 of 28 contests

A top-10 category call in 82% of their 28 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

506.7544 career-best overall

93.8% of a perfect 540

Their best day on record: 506.7544 at Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) — 93.8% of a perfect 540.

Backyard
Aug 7, 2020

State champions

1 state championship won

They've taken 1 state championship from 9 entries at contests carrying the title.

9 state-championship entries

The one to beat

4× one call ahead of them

Hickory Hangover has finished one call ahead of Thin Blue Swine 4 times — their closest competition in the data.

Show 8 more storylines

Their season

2019 2 Grand Championships

2019 was the year it came together: 12 contests, 2 Grand Championships and 3 category wins, at an average finish in the top 24%.

12 contests
9 overall top-10s
3 category wins
average top 24%

The weak link

−6.0 points behind their best meat

Pork is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 6.00 points below their pork ribs, and turns into a call 40% of the time against 65%.

Pork avg 164.07
Pork Ribs avg 170.06
4 calls in 10 entries

The drought

20 contests since the last title

Their last Grand Championship came at Poosa-Q on Jun 14, 2019 — 20 contests and 7.3 years ago.

last GC Jun 14, 2019
7.3 years ago

A strong matchup

13–5 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 72% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of HELL ON SQUEALS in 13 of their 18 shared contests.

The comeback

4.5 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 4.5 years, then back at Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) (Mar 8, 2019).

last seen Sep 19, 2014
back Mar 8, 2019

Pork Ribs nemesis

12 of 19 shared pork ribs entries lost

REDBONES BBQ ahead 63% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, REDBONES BBQ has out-cooked them in 12 of 19 shared pork ribs entries.

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

LEE LA Q has landed one call behind them 2 times.

The metronome

±2.10% swing around their own average

Their overall lands within ±2.10% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.

averages 94.2% of a perfect score
28 contests

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to Thin Blue Swine, each with one reason worth a look.

SWEET SMOKE Q

#837 of the rated field

1624 power rating

Contests: 19
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 26%
Peak: 1628

1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Thin Blue Swine)

One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Thin Blue Swine has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

rated over 18 contests
last seen Jul 9, 2026

⚔ Head-to-head

Bubba Q

#833 of the rated field

1624 power rating

Contests: 70
GCs: 3
Top-10s: 47%
Peak: 1691

6–1 in 7 shared contests (86% to Thin Blue Swine)

They've been 1691 at their best, 67 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 69 contests
last seen Aug 12, 2022

⚔ Head-to-head

TOYS 4 BBQ'N

#834 of the rated field

1624 power rating

Contests: 27
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 41%
Peak: 1624

Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 8 years before Thin Blue Swine's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 27 contests

⚔ Compare careers

WYO SMOKE SHOW

#838 of the rated field

1624 power rating

Contests: 33
GCs: 2
Top-10s: 36%
Peak: 1632

Careers of much the same size, 33 contests to 28, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 32 contests
last seen Sep 30, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

CHOP QUEY

#839 of the rated field

1624 power rating

Contests: 37
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 27%
Peak: 1631

Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 37 contests, alongside a 27% overall top-10 rate.

rated over 36 contests
last seen Sep 27, 2023

⚔ Compare careers

SMOKIN BLUE Q FL

#836 of the rated field

1624 power rating

Contests: 43
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 26%
Peak: 1632

They were already cooking in 2013, 6 years before Thin Blue Swine's first contest.

rated over 43 contests
last seen Nov 22, 2019

⚔ Compare careers

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
LEE LA Q	24	12	12	50%	⚔ compare
REDBONES BBQ	20	9	11	45%	⚔ compare
HELL ON SQUEALS	18	13	5	72%	⚔ compare
Hickory Hangover	18	4	14	22%	⚔ compare
RIBLIFE	16	11	5	69%	⚔ compare
PUCKDADDY'S KILLER Q	16	6	10	38%	⚔ compare
LENOX & SON BBQ COMPANY	15	13	2	87%	⚔ compare
Dixie Pigs & Chick's BBQ Team	14	9	5	64%	⚔ compare
BAMA BOYS BBQ	12	8	4	67%	⚔ compare
Sweet Cheeks BBQ	12	2	10	17%	⚔ compare
Simply Smoked	10	10	0	100%	⚔ compare
PERFECTLY BLENDED	10	7	3	70%	⚔ compare
Slingin Pig Meat	9	9	0	100%	⚔ compare
The Real Squeal BBQ	9	3	6	33%	⚔ compare
Organizer Portal	9	3	5	33%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	26	13	0	3	176.5600	154.1940	169.42	top 41%
Pork Ribs	26	17	3	7	180 🔥	157.6572	170.06	top 34%
Pork	10	4	0	1	175.4400	151.3372	164.07	top 59%

“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
Small (<20 teams)	1	0	top 36%
Medium (20–39)	22	1	top 33%
Large (40+)	3	1	top 26%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
AL	24	2	top 33%
TN	2	0	top 31%

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

Contest	Visits	Best	GCs	Avg finish	Last visit
Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE)	7	4	0	top 47%	Jun 5, 2026
Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY)	2	1	1	top 21%	Jun 11, 2021
Smoke on the Falls	2	3	0	top 16%	Apr 8, 2022
Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)	2	2	0	top 12%	Mar 6, 2020

More numbers

Busiest season 2019 12 contests · 2 GCs

Contests a season 3.5 across 8 seasons in the data

Most contests held in AL 25 of 28 contests · 2 states in all

Contests visited 17 4 of them more than once

First title Jun 7, 2019 Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY)

Opponents faced 510 finished ahead 815 times, behind 267

Longest layoff 4.5 yrs Sep 19, 2014 → Mar 8, 2019

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

20261 milestone

Jun 5 Most recent contest Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE)

20252 milestones

Apr 11 25th tracked contest Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition
Sep 20 Peak power rating (1629) Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD)

20202 milestones

Mar 6 First Reserve Championship Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
Aug 7 Career-best overall score506.7544 Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY)

201910 milestones

Mar 8 First call Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
Mar 8 First overall top-10 Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
Mar 8 First overall past 90% of a perfect score338.2056 Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
Apr 19 First category win (Pork Ribs) High on the Hog Festival
Apr 19 First perfect 180 (Pork Ribs) High on the Hog Festival
Jun 7 First overall podium Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY)
Jun 7 First Grand Championship Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY)
Jun 14 First state championship Poosa-Q
Jun 14 Biggest field won (48 teams) Poosa-Q
Aug 9 10th tracked contest Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY)

20141 milestone

Jul 25 First tracked contest Foothills Country Fair BBQ Bash

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+16.8	Poosa-Q	Jun 14, 2019
+14.1	High on the Hog Festival	Apr 19, 2019
+14.1	Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY)	Jun 7, 2019
+12.3	Smoke on the Falls	Apr 8, 2022
+11.8	Smoke on the Falls	Apr 12, 2019

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-14.1	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE)	Aug 6, 2021
-11.8	Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY)	Apr 17, 2021
-6.7	Capital City Cook Off	Feb 21, 2020
-5.1	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE)	Jun 5, 2026
-3.4	Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)	Oct 25, 2019

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — 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	GCs	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2026	1	0	0	0	100%	top 62%	94.6%	94.6%
2025	3	0	2	0	100%	top 29%	96.5%	95.7%
2023	1	0	0	0	100%	top 54%	92.6%	92.6%
2022	1	0	1	0	100%	top 9%	96.8%	96.8%
2021	5	0	1	0	80%	top 51%	95.2%	92.5%
2020	3	0	2	0	67%	top 31%	96.3%	93.9%
2019	12	2	9	3	92%	top 24%	98.4%	94.4%
2014	2	0	0	0	0%	—	—	—

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Jun 5, 2026	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Glencoe, AL	16 / 26 (340.5260)	10 (175.4172)	20 (165.1088)	15 (170.8112)	—
Sep 20, 2025	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD) Glencoe, AL	4 / 22 (343.3828)	13 (167.9656)	3 (175.4172)	—	—
Sep 19, 2025	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Glencoe, AL	13 / 30 (342.8228)	4 (176)	18 (166.8228)	30 (151.3372)	—
Apr 11, 2025	Smoke on the Falls BBQ Competition 🏅 Gadsden, AL	8 / 31 (347.3828)	9 (174.2628)	9 (173.1200)	—	—
Aug 11, 2023	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Glencoe, AL	19 / 35 (499.8744)	20 (168.5256)	9 (170.8344)	29 (160.5144)	—
Apr 8, 2022	Smoke on the Falls 🏅 Gadsden, AL	3 / 34 (348.5256)	7 (174.2628)	4 (174.2628)	—	—
Aug 6, 2021	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD & KIDS QUE) Glencoe, AL	27 / 31 (483.3028)	26 (156.5256)	22 (164.5372)	21 (162.2400)	—
Jun 11, 2021	Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL	12 / 31 (338.2172)	20 (167.3944)	9 (170.8228)	—	—
Apr 23, 2021	Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Florence, AL	11 / 29 (338.2628)	18 (167.4056)	10 (170.8572)	—	—
Apr 17, 2021	Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY) Chelsea, AL	16 / 21 (484.3884)	6 (170.8228)	17 (157.6572)	17 (155.9084)	—
Apr 9, 2021	Smoke on the Falls 🏅 Gadsden, AL	6 / 38 (342.8116)	26 (167.3944)	3 (175.4172)	—	—
Aug 7, 2020	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) Glencoe, AL	5 / 21 (506.7544)	3 (173.1200)	8 (168.5256)	9 (165.1088)	—
Mar 6, 2020	Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Hartselle, AL	2 / 32 (346.8112)	4 (172.5484)	4 (174.2628)	—	—
Feb 21, 2020	Capital City Cook Off 🏅 Montgomery, AL	16 / 25 (329.6112)	13 (168.5256)	15 (161.0856)	—	—
Nov 22, 2019	Mission Q (Backyard Only) Tuscumbia, AL	5 / 20 (341.1088)	7 (170.8344)	5 (170.2744)	—	—
Oct 25, 2019	Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL) Lynchburg, TN	21 / 42 (493.5996)	42 (154.1940)	14 (168)	9 (171.4056)	—
Sep 13, 2019	RiverFest 🏅 Decatur, AL	4 / 37 (342.7884)	14 (166.2284)	2 (176.5600)	—	—
Aug 23, 2019	Smoking for a Reason (BACKYARD ONLY) Fort Payne, AL	4 / 11 (497.5540)	5 (168.5256)	1 (169.6800)	10 (159.3484)	—
Aug 9, 2019	Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) Glencoe, AL	11 / 26 (502.2056)	22 (165.1084)	8 (168.5372)	11 (168.5600)	—
Jul 26, 2019	Cotton Pickin BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Hartselle, AL	9 / 27 (334.8116)	15 (167.3944)	11 (167.4172)	—	—
Jun 14, 2019	Poosa-Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL	1 / 48 (354.2744)	3 (176.5600)	1 (177.7144)	—	—
Jun 7, 2019	Reelin N Smokin Backyard BBQ Competition (BACKYARD ONLY) Huntsville, AL	1 / 25 (347.9772)	4 (171.9656)	3 (176.0116)	—	—
Apr 26, 2019	Smoke on the Water Festival (BACKYARD ONlY) Florence, AL	11 / 45 (339.9428)	4 (176)	25 (163.9428)	2 (175.4400)	—
Apr 19, 2019	High on the Hog Festival 🏅 Winchester, TN	5 / 39 (341.6456)	11 (161.6456)	1 (180)	—	—
Apr 12, 2019	Smoke on the Falls 🏅 Gadsden, AL	7 / 30 (342.7884)	13 (169.6684)	7 (173.1200)	—	—
Mar 8, 2019	Corums Building Center BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Harselle, AL	6 / 34 (338.2056)	2 (176.5600)	28 (161.6456)	—	—
Sep 19, 2014	20th Annual Decatur Jaycee's Riverfest Decatur, AL	—	—	—	—	—
Jul 25, 2014	Foothills Country Fair BBQ Bash Cleveland, TN	—	—	—	—	—

Thin Blue Swine

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Best top-10 run

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Backyard avg

Backyard (3-meat) avg

Storylines (15 found in their record)

Perfect scores on the board

Giant slayer

Happy hunting ground

They almost always walk

High-water mark

State champions

The one to beat

Their season

The weak link

The drought

A strong matchup

The comeback

Pork Ribs nemesis

Looking over their shoulder

The metronome

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, averaged over 5 contests — 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)