A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
THE GRISWOLDS ahead in 100% of their meetings
THE GRISWOLDS has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Nicks BBQ
Nicks BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2021. Their best overall finish is 8th of 19 at the Anchor City Cook Off (2021). They finished #1695 in the 2016 Master Series Team of the Year standings. Also listed in KCBS results as “NICK'S BBQ”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1490
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 4
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Mar 25, 2016
latest Oct 8, 2021 · 5.5 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
20% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 68%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
40%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±7.23
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 162.85 · weakest Pork Ribs (156.39)
Road miles
1,429
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 816 mi
Schedule strength
68%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1586)
Purse competed for
$5,100
listed at 1 contest — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Master avg
640.67 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
314.26 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 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.
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 ↗ | Master | #1695 (136 pts) | #2065 (111 pts) | #1812 (131 pts) | #1561 (181 pts) | #1605 (166 pts) |
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Nicks BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
Nicks BBQ has 4 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 162 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#3,688 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1504
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,669 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1502
Level with Nicks BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,674 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1506
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,655 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1490
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,682 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1490
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,699 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1489
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 176.5600 | 155.4172 | 161.99 | top 59% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 159.4060 | 152.5372 | 156.39 | top 73% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 173.1544 | 154.8228 | 162.85 | top 64% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.8344 | 146.2172 | 158.06 | top 65% |
“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) | 1 | 0 | top 42% |
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 77% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 76% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2016
3 contests
Contests a season
1.7
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
OK
3 of 5 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
4
a different one every time
Opponents faced
125
finished ahead 43 times, behind 116
Longest layoff
3 yrs
Oct 13, 2018 → Oct 8, 2021
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20212 milestones
- First overall top-10 Anchor City Cook Off
- Most recent contest Anchor City Cook Off
20166 milestones
- First tracked contest Firelake BBQ Cook Off
- Peak power rating (1492) Firelake BBQ Cook Off
- First call Chillin & Grillin
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score650.7544 Chillin & Grillin
- Career-best overall score650.7544 Chillin & Grillin
- Career-best single call (Chicken)176.5600 Chillin & Grillin
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +4.1 | Anchor City Cook Off | Oct 8, 2021 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -8.3 | Firelake BBQ Cook Off | Mar 25, 2016 |
| -4.8 | Hog Wild BBQ Festival | Jun 24, 2016 |
| -1.4 | Chillin & Grillin | Apr 8, 2016 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 42% | 87.3% | 87.3% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33% | top 76% | 90.4% | 89% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 2021 | Anchor City Cook Off 🏅 Centralia, MO | 8 / 19 (314.2632) | 7 (157.7260) | 8 (156.5372) | — | — |
| Oct 13, 2018 | Smoke & Ale Fall Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Chelsea, MI | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jun 24, 2016 | Hog Wild BBQ Festival Chandler, OK | 20 / 26 (634.2060) | 25 (155.4172) | 21 (157.0972) | 20 (160.5600) | 14 (161.1316) |
| Apr 8, 2016 | Chillin & Grillin Sand Springs, OK | 28 / 43 (650.7544) | 5 (176.5600) | 39 (152.5372) | 39 (154.8228) | 20 (166.8344) |
| Mar 25, 2016 | Firelake BBQ Cook Off Shawnee, OK | 57 / 66 (637.0404) | 59 (158.2628) | 53 (159.4060) | 16 (173.1544) | 62 (146.2172) |