High-water mark
510.7888
career-best overall
94.6% of a perfect 540
Their best day on record: 510.7888 at Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) — 94.6% of a perfect 540.
- Backyard
- Aug 12, 2022
THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ
THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 24 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2023. Their best overall finish is 8th of 72 at the Poosa Q (2022).
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1523
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 3
Contests
24
in the data
First seen
May 5, 2022
latest Apr 7, 2023
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
2
3 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
4% of 24 contests
Avg finish
top 36%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
17%
contests with a top-10 call
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 171.78 · weakest Pork Ribs (167.59)
Road miles
2,042
across 24 mapped stops · furthest 135 mi
Schedule strength
55%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1570)
Purse competed for
$58K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
337.67 / 360
2 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
510.79 / 540
1 Backyard (3-meat) contest · 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.
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 THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ has 3 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 96 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#2,422 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 11%
- Peak
- 1523
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,423 of the rated field
- Contests
- 17
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 12%
- Peak
- 1526
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ)
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 17 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,435 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1522
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 5 years before THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,411 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1523
Fewer contests behind them than THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ has cooked, 5 to 24, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#2,428 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1523
Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 6 contests, alongside a 50% overall top-10 rate.
⚔ Compare careers#2,414 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1532
Level with THIN BLUE SWINE BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 178.8572 | 167.3828 | 171.78 | top 29% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 176.5600 | 161.6572 | 167.59 | top 46% |
| Pork | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 173.1428 | 169.6800 | 171.03 | top 27% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 48% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 11% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2017
6 contests
Contests a season
3.4
across 7 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AL
18 of 24 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
3
a different one every time
Opponents faced
185
finished ahead 167 times, behind 70
Longest layoff
3.6 yrs
Sep 14, 2018 → May 5, 2022
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20232 milestones
- Peak power rating (1523) Smoke on the Falls
- Most recent contest Smoke on the Falls
20224 milestones
- First overall top-10 Poosa Q
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score342.2400 Poosa Q
- Career-best overall score510.7888 Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)178.8572 Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY)
20171 milestone
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD)
20161 milestone
- 10th tracked contest Franklin BBQ Festival Presented By Franklin Noon Rotary Club
20142 milestones
- First tracked contest Cotton Pickin' BBQ Cookoff
- First call Jack Daniel's World Championship Backyard Contest (BACKYARD)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +15.3 | Poosa Q | May 5, 2022 |
| +7.1 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 12, 2022 |
| +0.5 | Smoke on the Falls | Apr 7, 2023 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 59% | 92.5% | 92.5% |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 24% | 95.1% | 94.8% |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17% | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 7, 2023 | Smoke on the Falls 🏅 Gadsden, AL | 23 / 39 (333.0972) | 16 (169.6800) | 28 (163.4172) | — | — |
| Aug 12, 2022 | Smoke in the Park (BACKYARD ONLY) Glencoe, AL | 13 / 35 (510.7888) | 1 (178.8572) | 28 (161.6572) | 18 (170.2744) | — |
| May 5, 2022 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 8 / 72 (342.2400) | 3 (176) | 27 (166.2400) | — | — |
| Sep 14, 2018 | Riverfest BBQ and Music Festival Decatur, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jul 27, 2018 | Cotton Pickin BBQ Cook-off Hartselle, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 20, 2018 | High on the Hog Festival Winchester, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dec 1, 2017 | Christmas on the River Demopolis, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 27, 2017 | Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) Lynchburg, TN | — | 14 (168.5256) | 1 (176.5600) | 9 (169.6800) | — |
| Aug 25, 2017 | Great American BBQ Festival Franklin, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jul 28, 2017 | Cotton Pickin BBQ Cook-off Hartselle, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| May 19, 2017 | Barber Q Battle (PRO/MASTER AND BACKYARD) Birmingham, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 7, 2017 | Smoke on the Falls Gadsden, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dec 2, 2016 | Christmas on the River Demopolis, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 9, 2016 | Decatur Jaycee's 22nd Annual Riverfest Decatur, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Aug 26, 2016 | Franklin BBQ Festival Presented By Franklin Noon Rotary Club Franklin, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jul 29, 2016 | Cotton Pickin BBQ Cook-Off Hartselle, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 15, 2016 | High on the Hog Festival Winchester, TN | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 8, 2016 | Smoke on the Falls Noccalula BBQ Fest Gadsden, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Decatur Jaycee's 21st Annual Riverfest Decatur, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jul 31, 2015 | I Grill Because I CARE (Competitor's Series) New Hope, AL | — | 20 (167.3828) | 20 (167.4172) | — | — |
| May 15, 2015 | Cotton Pickin' BBQ Cookoff Hartselle, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 10, 2015 | Smoke on the Falls Gadsden, AL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oct 24, 2014 | Jack Daniel's World Championship Backyard Contest (BACKYARD) Lynchburg, TN | — | 12 (170.2628) | 8 (170.2744) | 4 (173.1428) | — |
| May 16, 2014 | Cotton Pickin' BBQ Cookoff Hartselle, AL | — | — | — | — | — |