A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
ELITE BBQ SMOKERS ahead in 100% of their meetings
ELITE BBQ SMOKERS has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
HORNS BBQ CO.
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1474
peak 1474 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2017-07-06
latest 2022-07-07
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 81%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
583.23
last 4 Master vs avg 583.23 (+0.00)
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±81.23
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 161.70 · weakest Chicken (151.66)
Road miles
1
mi across 4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
56%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1571)
Purse competed for
$45K
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
583.23 / 720
4 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 strong matchup
4–0
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of CDS BBQ in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
The comeback
3 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 3 years, then back at South Carolina Festival of Discovery (2022-07-07).
- last seen 2019-07-12
- back 2022-07-07
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.
HORNS BBQ CO. has 4 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 147 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#4408 of the rated field
- Contests
- 23
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to HORNS BBQ CO.)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team HORNS BBQ CO. has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#4424 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1474
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4402 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1474
No shared contest yet.
They turned up 7 years after HORNS BBQ CO. did, first appearing in 2024.
⚔ Head-to-head#4436 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1474
No shared contest yet.
Level with HORNS BBQ CO. on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4433 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1474
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4440 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1474
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 3 years before HORNS BBQ CO.'s most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.8456 | 145.0856 | 151.66 | top 85% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 168.5600 | 155.4172 | 161.70 | top 61% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 158.2056 | 154.2284 | 156.23 | top 80% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.5028 | 143.9200 | 154.07 | top 70% |
“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.
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SC Festival of Discovery | 3 | 53 | 0 | top 81% | 2019-07-12 |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
5 yrs
2017-07-06 → 2022-07-07
Busiest season
2022
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
SC
4 of 4 contests
Contests visited
2
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
averages 161.70 · weakest Chicken (151.66)
Walk rate
0%
a top-10 call in 0 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 4 contests
Master average
583.23
out of 720 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
186
67–282 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
1
4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1571
average field rating faced — tougher than 56% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$44,850
listed at 2 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 2 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
3 yrs
2019-07-12 → 2022-07-07
Power rating
1474
peak 1474 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2017
- First tracked contest SC Festival of Discovery(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- Peak power rating (1493) SC Festival of Discovery(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES)
- 2019
- Career-best overall score646.7312 SC Festival of Discovery
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)168.5600 SC Festival of Discovery
- 2022
- Most recent contest South Carolina Festival of Discovery
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.5 | SC Festival Of Discovery | 2018-07-12 |
| -6.8 | SC Festival of Discovery(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) | 2017-07-06 |
| -6.5 | South Carolina Festival of Discovery | 2022-07-07 |
| -0.3 | SC Festival of Discovery | 2019-07-12 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 80% | 86.8% | 86.8% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 64% | 89.8% | 89.8% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 98% | 61.6% | 61.6% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 81% | 85.8% | 85.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-07-07 | South Carolina Festival of Discovery 🏅 Greenwood, SC | 74 / 92 (624.8684) | 81 (153.0856) | 64 (161.1088) | 78 (158.2056) | 74 (152.4684) |
| 2019-07-12 | SC Festival of Discovery 🏅 Greenwood, SC | 53 / 83 (646.7312) | 48 (162.8456) | 28 (168.5600) | 68 (154.8228) | 46 (160.5028) |
| 2018-07-12 | SC Festival Of Discovery Greenwood, SC | 87 / 89 (443.7712) | 84 (145.6228) | — | 72 (154.2284) | 76 (143.9200) |
| 2017-07-06 | SC Festival of Discovery(PALMETTO BBQ SERIES) Greenwood, SC | 72 / 89 (617.5656) | 87 (145.0856) | 71 (155.4172) | 63 (157.6684) | 51 (159.3944) |