High-water mark
687.9316
career-best overall
95.5% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 687.9316 at American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest — 95.5% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Sep 30, 2026
Bad To The Bone BBQ
Bad To The Bone BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 9 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2014 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 21st of 32 at the Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition (2019). They are ranked #3822 of 6,485 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1487
peak 1487 · rated over 5 contests1 invitational or side-series contest not counted
Contests
9
in the data
First seen
Jul 11, 2014
latest Sep 30, 2026 · 12.2 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 9 contests
Avg finish
top 74%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±35.81
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 163.30 · weakest Brisket (148.15)
Road miles
3,592
across 9 mapped stops · furthest 2,453 mi
Schedule strength
48%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1563)
Purse competed for
$111K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Master avg
632.07 / 720
5 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
305.10 / 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.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Bad To The Bone BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
128 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,825 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1486
Fewer contests behind them than Bad To The Bone BBQ has cooked, 5 to 9, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#3,813 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1487
Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 9 contests, alongside a 33% overall top-10 rate.
⚔ Compare careers#3,816 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1487
Their last contest in the data was back in 2020, 6 years before Bad To The Bone BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,827 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1486
Level with Bad To The Bone BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,843 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before Bad To The Bone BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,824 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1506
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2014.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 170.2628 | 154.3084 | 163.30 | top 65% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 177.7144 | 150.8916 | 159.17 | top 72% |
| Pork | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174.8572 | 149.6916 | 161.45 | top 62% |
| Brisket | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.0972 | 124.4344 | 148.15 | top 82% |
“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) | 3 | 0 | top 80% |
| Large (40+) | 3 | 0 | top 68% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2026
2 contests
Contests a season
1.5
across 6 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
VA
6 of 9 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
6
a different one every time
Opponents faced
514
finished ahead 303 times, behind 385
Longest layoff
7.1 yrs
Sep 6, 2019 → Sep 30, 2026
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20264 milestones
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score687.9316 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Career-best overall score687.9316 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)177.7144 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Most recent contest American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Invitational Contest
20142 milestones
- First tracked contest Wine Country Big Q
- Peak power rating (1493) Wine Country Big Q
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +10.8 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Sep 30, 2026 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -13.4 | Que & Cruz | Sep 30, 2016 |
| -7.4 | Wine Country Big Q | Jul 11, 2014 |
| -2.6 | 15th annual Recovery Fest/ 10th annual State BBQ Championship (JUDGES FULL) | Sep 6, 2019 |
| -0.8 | Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition | Apr 26, 2019 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 63% | 95.5% | 93% |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 70% | 87.6% | 86.2% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | 81.3% | 81.3% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 77% | 84.1% | 84.1% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Invitational Contest unrated Kansas City, KS | 150 / 158 (651.1996) | 143 (163.9772) | 149 (161.6572) | 125 (167.3712) | 152 (158.1940) |
| Sep 30, 2026 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest Kansas City, KS | 112 / 360 (687.9316) | 186 (170.2628) | 23 (177.7144) | 77 (174.8572) | 242 (165.0972) |
| Sep 6, 2019 | 15th annual Recovery Fest/ 10th annual State BBQ Championship (JUDGES FULL) 🏅 Richmond, VA | 23 / 31 (630.7656) | 13 (169.1428) | 27 (154.2284) | 26 (149.6916) | 19 (157.7028) |
| Apr 26, 2019 | Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition 🏅 Lanexa, VA | 21 / 32 (305.0972) | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 27, 2018 | Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition Lenexa, VA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apr 28, 2017 | 4th Annual Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition Lanexa, VA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 30, 2016 | Que & Cruz Louisa, VA | 31 / 31 (585.0172) | 26 (154.3084) | 30 (150.8916) | 26 (155.3828) | 31 (124.4344) |
| Apr 29, 2016 | 3rd Annual Pickin' N Pullin Lanexa, VA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jul 11, 2014 | Wine Country Big Q Rohnert Park, CA | 34 / 44 (605.4168) | 25 (158.8112) | 34 (151.3484) | 19 (159.9428) | 38 (135.3144) |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.