The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
ROCKIN' N BBQ has finished one call ahead of POPPIN' SMOKE 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
POPPIN' SMOKE
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1457
peak 1457 · rated over 5 contests ⓘ
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
2017-09-29
latest 2019-06-22
Best ToY finish
#1392
Master 2019
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 87%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
606.21
last 5 Master vs avg 606.21 (+0.00)
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±21.04
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 154.95 · weakest Pork Ribs (149.03)
Road miles
765
mi across 5 mapped stops · furthest 168 mi
Schedule strength
39%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1552)
Purse competed for
$20K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
606.21 / 720
5 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.
A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
PARROTHEAD SMOKERS ahead in 100% of their meetings
PARROTHEAD SMOKERS has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
The weak link
−5.9
points behind their best meat
Pork Ribs is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 5.92 points below their pork, and turns into a call 20% of the time against 0%.
- Pork Ribs avg 149.03
- Pork avg 154.95
- 1 calls in 5 entries
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.
128 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#5224 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#5238 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
Level with POPPIN' SMOKE on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#5244 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1456
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#5247 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1456
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#5219 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#5216 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 3 years before POPPIN' SMOKE'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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 BAR BLUES CUE | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159.4628 | 146.2860 | 152.57 | top 84% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 168.5944 | 124.0228 | 149.03 | top 82% |
| Pork | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159.9884 | 150.8228 | 154.95 | top 80% |
| Brisket | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.8344 | 134.2172 | 149.67 | top 77% |
“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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
| Medium (20–39) | 4 | 0 | top 84% |
The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
1.7 yrs
2017-09-29 → 2019-06-22
Busiest season
2019
2 contests
Contests a season
1.7
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
MT
5 of 5 contests
Contests visited
5
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
5 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Pork
averages 154.95 · weakest Pork Ribs (149.03)
Walk rate
20%
a top-10 call in 1 of 5 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 5 contests
Master average
606.21
out of 720 · 5 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
76
18–103 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
765
5 mapped stops · furthest 168 mi
Schedule strength
1552
average field rating faced — tougher than 39% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$20,250
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 2 state-championship entries
Power rating
1457
peak 1457 · #5231 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2017
- First tracked contest BBQ in the Badlands
- Peak power rating (1487) BBQ in the Badlands
- 2019
- First call Montana BBQ Cook-Off
- Career-best overall score646.8572 Montana BBQ Cook-Off
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)168.5944 Montana BBQ Cook-Off
- Most recent contest Montana BBQ Cook-Off
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -13.4 | BBQ in the Badlands | 2017-09-29 |
| -12.1 | *Nile Beer-B-Q | 2017-10-14 |
| -9.8 | Miles City Cowtown Cook Off | 2019-06-14 |
| -6.4 | *Montana Pitmaster Classic | 2018-08-24 |
| -1.6 | Montana BBQ Cook-Off | 2019-06-22 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 79% | 89.8% | 86.5% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 77% | 83.1% | 83.1% |
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | 83.5% | 82.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-06-22 | Montana BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Absarokee, MT | 19 / 29 (646.8572) | 22 (155.4400) | 10 (168.5944) | 18 (159.9884) | 12 (162.8344) |
| 2019-06-14 | Miles City Cowtown Cook Off 🏅 Miles City, MT | 26 / 28 (599.3484) | 27 (146.2860) | 23 (156.5712) | 23 (154.2512) | 26 (142.2400) |
| 2018-08-24 | *Montana Pitmaster Classic Bozeman, MT | 20 / 26 (598.2856) | 13 (159.4628) | 26 (124.0228) | 18 (157.1200) | 13 (157.6800) |
| 2017-10-14 | *Nile Beer-B-Q Billings, MT | 17 / 17 (600.9712) | 17 (149.6684) | 17 (147.3828) | 17 (152.5600) | 17 (151.3600) |
| 2017-09-29 | BBQ in the Badlands Glendive, MT | 26 / 26 (585.6116) | 26 (152.0116) | 24 (148.5600) | 22 (150.8228) | 26 (134.2172) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 ↗ | Master | #1392 (137 pts) | #1583 (122 pts) | #1254 (192 pts) | #1426 (152 pts) | #1343 (172 pts) |
| 2018 ↗ | Master | #1865 (76 pts) | #1776 (111 pts) | #2570 (51 pts) | #1897 (86 pts) | #1751 (111 pts) |
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #1654 (133 pts) | #1738 (133 pts) | #1723 (138 pts) | #1654 (148 pts) | #1733 (133 pts) |