High-water mark
673.6000
career-best overall
93.6% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 673.6000 at Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Pine Ridge — 93.6% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- 2021-04-16
Big Bear's BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1457
peak 1457 · rated over 9 contests ⓘ
Contests
10
in the data
First seen
2014-08-02
latest 2021-08-27
Best ToY finish
#417
Master 2021
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 10 contests
Avg finish
top 81%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
663.24 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 650.84 (+12.40)
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Best single call
173.1428
Consistency
±17.32
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 164.94 · weakest Brisket (159.59)
Road miles
5,152
mi across 9 mapped stops · furthest 4347 mi
Schedule strength
84%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1611)
Purse competed for
$25K
listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 7 state-championship entries
Master avg
650.84 / 720
9 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (12 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.
The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
Swine-O's has finished one call ahead of Big Bear's BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
A tough matchup
7–1
behind in the head-to-head
ELITE BBQ SMOKERS ahead in 88% of their meetings
ELITE BBQ SMOKERS has come out ahead in 7 of their 8 shared contests.
The weak link
−5.3
points behind their best meat
Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 5.35 points below their pork, and turns into a call 22% of the time against 0%.
- Brisket avg 159.59
- Pork avg 164.94
- 2 calls in 9 entries
A strong matchup
3–0
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of BUD WISER'S BBQ in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
The comeback
6.6 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 6.6 years, then back at NC - BBQ Shoot Out Day 1 (2021-02-19).
- last seen 2014-08-02
- back 2021-02-19
Pork nemesis
6 of 8
shared pork entries lost
ELITE BBQ SMOKERS ahead 75% of the time
Even in their strongest meat, ELITE BBQ SMOKERS has out-cooked them in 6 of 8 shared pork entries.
They cook the hard rooms
1611
average field rating faced
A tougher draw than 84% of rated fields
The fields they enter average a 1611 power rating — a tougher draw than 84% of every rated contest in the data.
- 9 rated contests
Going the wrong way
-25
rating points in a year
The rating has slipped 25 points across 8 contests since 2021-02-19 — from 1482 down to 1457.
- 8 contests since 2021-02-19
- now 1457
An August team
Top 72%
average finish in August
Something about August: average finish in the top 72% across 3 contests, versus top 81% the rest of the year.
- 3 August contests
- top 81% the rest of the year
The long haul
5,152
road miles between contests
Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 5,152 miles across 9 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 4,347 miles to Smoke in the North.
- 9 mapped stops
- furthest 4,347 mi
The metronome
±2.41%
swing around their own average
Their overall lands within ±2.41% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.
- averages 90.4% of a perfect score
- 10 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.
120 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#5199 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-head#5229 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 10%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 10 contests to 10, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#5214 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
Level with Big Bear's BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#5230 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-head#5221 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 5 years before Big Bear's BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#5227 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1457
No shared contest yet.
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 10 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-headFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELITE BBQ SMOKERS | 8 | 1 | 7 | 13% | ⚔ compare |
| MUTTLEY CREW BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKIN SKULLIES | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| REDMULE'S BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Smoke Central BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Bald Hawg BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| SOUTHERN Q COMPETITION COOK TEAM | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| REDNECK SCIENTIFIC | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 171.4516 | 140.0000 | 162.32 | top 77% |
| Pork Ribs | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 173.1428 | 154.8344 | 164.42 | top 71% |
| Pork | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171.9772 | 154.3084 | 164.94 | top 74% |
| Brisket | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 170.2744 | 146.7772 | 159.59 | top 72% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SC | 5 | 0 | top 75% |
| NC | 2 | 0 | top 100% |
| FL | 1 | 0 | top 70% |
| EU | 1 | 0 | top 80% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 80% |
| Medium (20–39) | 7 | 0 | top 82% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 70% |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
7.1 yrs
2014-08-02 → 2021-08-27
Busiest season
2021
8 contests
Contests a season
3.3
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
SC
6 of 10 contests · 4 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
9
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
10 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Pork
averages 164.94 · weakest Brisket (159.59)
Walk rate
20%
a top-10 call in 2 of 10 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 10 contests
Master average
650.84
out of 720 · 9 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
148
47–208 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
5,152
9 mapped stops · furthest 4,347 mi
Schedule strength
1611
average field rating faced — tougher than 84% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$25,000
listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 7 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
6.6 yrs
2014-08-02 → 2021-02-19
Power rating
1457
peak 1457 · #5217 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- First tracked contest BARRGH-B-Q on the Beach Pirateland - One Meat Chicken Challenge
- 2014
- First call Smoke in the North
- Peak power rating (1491) Smoke in the North
- 2021
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score654.1140 Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Pirateland
- Career-best overall score673.6000 Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Pine Ridge
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)173.1428 Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - BARRGH-B-Q on the Beach Pirateland
- 10th tracked contest Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Myrtle Beach Travel Park
- Most recent contest Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Myrtle Beach Travel Park
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +5.6 | Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Myrtle Beach Travel Park | 2021-08-27 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.2 | Smoke in the North | 2014-08-02 |
| -8.5 | NC - BBQ Shoot Out Day 1 | 2021-02-19 |
| -8.2 | NC - BBQ Shoot Out Day 2 | 2021-02-20 |
| -7.2 | Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Dorchester Shrine Club | 2021-03-19 |
| -6 | Boss of the Sauce BBQ Festival | 2021-04-09 |
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)
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2021 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13% | top 81% | 93.6% | 90.8% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 80% | 87.1% | 87.1% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-08-27 | Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Myrtle Beach Travel Park 🏅 Myrtle Beach, SC | 12 / 22 (672.5260) | 8 (170.8800) | 11 (168.5372) | 18 (162.8344) | 7 (170.2744) |
| 2021-08-20 | Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - BARRGH-B-Q on the Beach Pirateland 🏅 Myrtle Beach, SC | 21 / 26 (665.0744) | 19 (170.2628) | 11 (173.1428) | 12 (171.9772) | 26 (149.6916) |
| 2021-04-16 | Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Pine Ridge 🏅 Roebuck, SC | 20 / 27 (673.6000) | 18 (170.2628) | 11 (171.9772) | 25 (163.9772) | 20 (167.3828) |
| 2021-04-09 | Boss of the Sauce BBQ Festival 🏅 Jacksonville, FL | 28 / 40 (656.4800) | 29 (161.1084) | 27 (165.1200) | 21 (168.5600) | 23 (161.6916) |
| 2021-03-19 | Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Dorchester Shrine Club 🏅 Summerville, SC | 23 / 26 (648.5148) | 15 (171.4516) | 23 (161.1088) | 16 (168.0000) | 26 (147.9544) |
| 2021-03-12 | Rufus Teague BBQ Throwdown - Pirateland 🏅 Myrtle Beach, SC | 30 / 39 (654.1140) | 34 (159.9656) | 34 (162.8000) | 28 (165.1200) | 25 (166.2284) |
| 2021-02-20 | NC - BBQ Shoot Out Day 2 Raleigh, NC | 21 / 21 (634.1604) | 21 (151.3716) | 20 (159.3600) | 15 (166.8572) | 21 (156.5716) |
| 2021-02-19 | NC - BBQ Shoot Out Day 1 🏅 Raleigh, NC | 21 / 21 (626.1260) | 21 (161.6916) | 21 (154.8344) | 19 (162.8228) | 21 (146.7772) |
| 2014-08-02 | Smoke in the North Olofstorp Sweden, EU | 12 / 15 (626.9372) | 14 (140.0000) | 10 (162.8800) | 14 (154.3084) | 3 (169.7488) |
| BARRGH-B-Q on the Beach Pirateland - One Meat Chicken Challenge Myrtle Beach, SC | — | 12 (166.2400) | — | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 ↗ | Master | #417 (441 pts) | #417 (481 pts) | #421 (496 pts) | #425 (446 pts) | #409 (491 pts) |