A tough matchup
6–0
behind in the head-to-head
MAN MEAT BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
MAN MEAT BBQ has come out ahead in 6 of their 6 shared contests.
TJ'S BBQ
TJ'S BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 10 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2023. Their best overall finish is 13th of 28 at the Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest (2021). They are ranked #5600 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1449
peak 1449 · rated over 9 contests
Contests
10
in the data
First seen
May 27, 2016
latest Jun 9, 2023 · 7 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 10 contests
Avg finish
top 76%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
475.01 ▼
last 5 Master vs avg 492.67 (-17.66)
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±149.87
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 153.70 · weakest Brisket (138.09)
Road miles
3,872
across 10 mapped stops · furthest 1,186 mi
Schedule strength
55%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1570)
Purse competed for
$60K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 5 state-championship entries
Master avg
492.67 / 720
6 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
312.50 / 360
3 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360), 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.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to TJ'S BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
121 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#5,604 of the rated field
- Contests
- 20
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1449
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to TJ'S BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team TJ'S BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#5,592 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1449
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#5,605 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1449
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 5 years before TJ'S BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#5,590 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1449
Careers of much the same size, 10 contests to 10, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#5,612 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1448
Level with TJ'S BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#5,595 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
They turned up 5 years after TJ'S BBQ did, first appearing in 2021.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAN MEAT BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 166.8228 | 123.3600 | 149.48 | top 69% |
| Pork Ribs | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.8916 | 144.5944 | 153.45 | top 62% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160 | 142.8112 | 153.70 | top 84% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 145.6572 | 133.6800 | 138.09 | top 94% |
“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) | 5 | 0 | top 64% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 0 | top 92% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest | 3 | 13 | 0 | top 42% | Jun 9, 2023 |
| Smoke in the Spring | 2 | 89 | 0 | top 93% | Apr 7, 2023 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2018
3 contests
Contests a season
1.7
across 6 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
KS
8 of 10 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
6
2 of them more than once
Opponents faced
422
finished ahead 94 times, behind 483
Longest layoff
2 yrs
Jun 7, 2019 → Jun 11, 2021
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20232 milestones
- 10th tracked contest Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest
- Most recent contest Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest
20211 milestone
- First call Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest
20182 milestones
- Career-best overall score622.2400 Smoke in the Spring
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)166.8916 Smoke in the Spring
20162 milestones
- First tracked contest Best Dam Barbecue
- Peak power rating (1487) Best Dam Barbecue
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +3.7 | Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest | Jun 7, 2019 |
| +1.7 | Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest | Jun 11, 2021 |
| +1.3 | Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest | Jun 9, 2023 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.9 | Best Dam Barbecue | May 27, 2016 |
| -10.7 | Smoke In the Springs | Apr 12, 2019 |
| -10.7 | Chisholm Trail BBQ Cook Off | Apr 28, 2017 |
| -9.7 | Smoke in the Spring | Apr 7, 2023 |
| -7.1 | New Jersey State Barbecue Championship | Jul 14, 2018 |
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 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 72% | 87.1% | 63.8% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 46% | 86.6% | 86.6% |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 68% | 86.6% | 62.2% |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 83% | 86.4% | 84.1% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 97% | 83.4% | 83.4% |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 97% | 80.7% | 80.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 9, 2023 | Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest 🏅 Derby, KS | 14 / 32 (313.6912) | 10 (162.8456) | 13 (150.8456) | — | — |
| Apr 7, 2023 | Smoke in the Spring 🏅 Osage City, KS | 103 / 103 (291.9772) | 99 (147.3828) | 101 (144.5944) | — | — |
| Jun 11, 2021 | Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest 🏅 Derby, KS | 13 / 28 (311.9084) | 6 (166.8228) | 14 (145.0856) | — | — |
| Jun 7, 2019 | Smoke on the Plains Derby BBQ & Music Fest 🏅 Derby, KS | 14 / 39 (311.9088) | 12 (158.8000) | 13 (153.1088) | — | — |
| Apr 12, 2019 | Smoke In the Springs 🏅 Osage City, KS | 104 / 104 (271.3372) | 104 (123.3600) | 102 (147.9772) | — | — |
| Jul 14, 2018 | New Jersey State Barbecue Championship North Wildwood, NJ | 51 / 64 (589.0172) | 57 (139.3716) | 22 (161.1772) | 55 (142.8112) | 50 (145.6572) |
| Jun 8, 2018 | Derby BBQ Festival Derby, KS | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 6, 2018 | Smoke in the Spring Osage City, KS | 89 / 103 (622.2400) | 59 (165.1200) | 50 (166.8916) | 83 (156.5484) | 101 (133.6800) |
| Apr 28, 2017 | Chisholm Trail BBQ Cook Off Wellington, KS | 31 / 32 (600.5024) | 30 (153.1084) | 26 (156.5712) | 30 (155.4284) | 32 (135.3944) |
| May 27, 2016 | Best Dam Barbecue Boulder City, NV | 35 / 36 (580.9604) | 36 (128.5028) | 28 (154.8116) | 27 (160) | 36 (137.6460) |