The heartbreaker
0.5372
points from the title
Came within 0.5372 points of the Grand Championship at B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) (Aug 7, 2021).
The Yardpigs
The Yardpigs is a competition barbecue team with 15 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2021 and 2022. They have won 3 Grand Championships, most recently at the Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 2 (2021), and finished Reserve Grand Champion twice. They are ranked #1235 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1583
peak 1589 · rated over 9 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted
Contests
15
in the data
First seen
May 7, 2021
latest Aug 5, 2022 · 1.2 years on the trail
Grand champs
3
2 reserve · wins it all 20% of the time
Category wins
4
7 podiums
Overall top-10s
8
53% of 15 contests
Best top-10 run
5
straight overall top-10s · 2 straight GCs
Avg finish
top 19%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
339.16 ▼
last 5 Backyard vs avg 340.59 (-1.43)
Walk rate
67%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±6.80
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 170.49 · weakest Chicken (169.91)
Road miles
1,940
across 14 mapped stops · furthest 710 mi
Schedule strength
31%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1542)
Purse competed for
$33K
listed at 7 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
2 🏅
won from 4 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
340.59 / 360
11 Backyard contests · 3 GCs
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to The Yardpigs, each with one reason worth a look.
33 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#1,233 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 67%
- Peak
- 1583
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#1,237 of the rated field
- Contests
- 16
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 56%
- Peak
- 1583
Careers of much the same size, 16 contests to 15, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#1,232 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 73%
- Peak
- 1590
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2021.
⚔ Compare careers#1,234 of the rated field
- Contests
- 16
- GCs
- 2
- Top-10s
- 56%
- Peak
- 1583
Their rating is built on 2 Grand Championships in 16 contests, alongside a 56% overall top-10 rate.
⚔ Compare careers#1,239 of the rated field
- Contests
- 17
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 35%
- Peak
- 1588
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 6 years before The Yardpigs's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#1,240 of the rated field
- Contests
- 27
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 63%
- Peak
- 1584
Level with The Yardpigs on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UGLY BABY BBQ | 10 | 8 | 2 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| Good Grefe! | 9 | 7 | 2 | 78% | ⚔ compare |
| Porket About It | 9 | 7 | 2 | 78% | ⚔ compare |
| THE GREAT PIG IN THE SKY | 9 | 7 | 2 | 78% | ⚔ compare |
| Pittie Q | 9 | 6 | 3 | 67% | ⚔ compare |
| What’cha Got BBQ | 8 | 7 | 1 | 88% | ⚔ compare |
| DAD BOD BARBEQUE | 8 | 6 | 2 | 75% | ⚔ compare |
| MAGNUM P.I.G. MN BBQ TEAM | 8 | 6 | 2 | 75% | ⚔ compare |
| Furlongs Smoke & Seafood | 8 | 5 | 3 | 63% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKEY GQ | 8 | 5 | 3 | 63% | ⚔ compare |
| Wrecking Crew BBQ | 8 | 3 | 5 | 38% | ⚔ compare |
| Sugar Shack | 7 | 6 | 1 | 86% | ⚔ compare |
| Big Ten Bones | 6 | 5 | 1 | 83% | ⚔ compare |
| T Daddys BBQ | 6 | 5 | 1 | 83% | ⚔ compare |
| Lucky Shoes BBQ | 6 | 5 | 1 | 83% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 11 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 177.1544 | 163.9772 | 169.91 | top 26% |
| Pork Ribs | 13 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 179.4400 | 162.8000 | 170.49 | top 26% |
“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) | 2 | 1 | top 10% |
| Medium (20–39) | 5 | 0 | top 28% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 2 | top 13% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 2 | 0 | top 36% | Aug 5, 2022 |
| Minnesota in May (Backyard) | 2 | 6 | 0 | top 19% | May 13, 2022 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2021
10 contests · 2 GCs
Contests a season
5
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
MN
8 of 15 contests · 4 states in all
Contests visited
9
2 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
13 entries · 3 wins · 8 calls
Opponents faced
215
finished ahead 402 times, behind 59
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20222 milestones
- Peak power rating (1589) Minnesota in May (Backyard)
- Most recent contest B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY)
20216 milestones
- First state championship Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 1
- Biggest field won (52 teams) Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 1
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)179.4400 Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 1
- Career-best overall score350.2972 Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 2
- First Reserve Championship B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 10th tracked contest 3rd Annual KCBS World Invitational - Ancillary
—7 milestones
- First tracked contest Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First call Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First category win (Chicken) Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall top-10 Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall podium Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First Grand Championship Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score347.4744 Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +17.9 | Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 1 | Jun 11, 2021 |
| +17.7 | Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 2 | Jun 12, 2021 |
| +14.5 | Minnesota in May | May 7, 2021 |
| +13.1 | B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 7, 2021 |
| +12.2 | Big Island BBQ Backyard | Aug 22, 2021 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -5.8 | B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 5, 2022 |
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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 7% | 96.5% | 96.5% |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 45% | 92.7% | 92.4% |
| 2021 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 70% | top 14% | 97.3% | 94.9% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2022 | B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 13 / 21 (331.9200) | 11 (169.1200) | 12 (162.8000) | — | — |
| May 13, 2022 | Minnesota in May (Backyard) Cambridge, MN | 11 / 38 (333.6340) | 9 (169.1084) | 15 (164.5256) | — | — |
| May 13, 2022 | Minnesota in May (One Meat Ribs) Cambridge, MN | — | — | 2 (174.8572) | — | — |
| May 13, 2022 | Minnesota in May (Masters) 🏅 Cambridge, MN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nov 12, 2021 | 3rd Annual KCBS World Invitational - Backyard unrated Shawnee, OK | 5 / 33 (343.9428) | 13 (169.6800) | 1 (174.2628) | — | — |
| Nov 11, 2021 | 3rd Annual KCBS World Invitational - Ancillary unrated Shawnee, OK | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 16, 2021 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 2 (BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 8 / 36 (338.8228) | 7 (173.7028) | 16 (165.1200) | — | — |
| Oct 15, 2021 | Bring'n Home the Bacon II Day 1 (BACKYARD) West Salem, WI | 15 / 40 (327.9428) | 15 (163.9772) | 13 (163.9656) | — | — |
| Aug 22, 2021 | Big Island BBQ Backyard Albert Lea, MN | 2 / 15 (343.9656) | 5 (169.7028) | 2 (174.2628) | — | — |
| Aug 7, 2021 | B-Dale BBQ Contest (BACKYARD ONLY) Roseville, MN | 2 / 21 (342.8688) | 6 (165.1544) | 1 (177.7144) | — | — |
| Jun 12, 2021 | Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 2 🏅 West Salem, WI | 1 / 45 (350.2972) | 2 (176) | 4 (174.2972) | — | — |
| Jun 11, 2021 | Bring'n Home the Bacon - Day 1 🏅 West Salem, WI | 1 / 52 (347.4056) | 7 (167.9656) | 1 (179.4400) | — | — |
| May 7, 2021 | Minnesota in May 🏅 Cambridge, MN | 6 / 60 (338.2172) | 14 (167.3944) | 5 (170.8228) | — | — |
| May 7, 2021 | Minnesota in May - One Meat Contest - Ribs Cambridge, MN | — | — | 24 (163.9772) | — | — |
| — | Bourbon, Brews & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Bancroft, IA | 1 / 15 (347.4744) | 1 (177.1544) | 5 (170.3200) | — | — |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.