Giant slayer
39
teams beaten in one weekend
Took the Grand Championship over a 39-team field at Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY).
SimpleManBBQ
SimpleManBBQ is a competition barbecue team with 9 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2026. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (). They finished #317 in the 2026 Backyard Series Team of the Year standings. Also listed in KCBS results as “SimpleMan BBQ” and “Simple Man BBQ”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1506
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 34 invitational or side-series contests not counted
Contests
9
in the data
First seen
May 24, 2019
latest Mar 20, 2026 · 6.8 years on the trail
Grand champs
1
0 reserve · wins it all 11% of the time
Category wins
1
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
22% of 9 contests
Avg finish
top 47%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±10.32
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 161.27 · weakest Chicken (160.32)
Road miles
501
across 6 mapped stops · furthest 410 mi
Schedule strength
76%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1598)
Purse competed for
$52K
listed at 9 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 3 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
316.54 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 1 GC
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 SimpleManBBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
SimpleManBBQ 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 116 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#2,987 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 9%
- Peak
- 1506
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to SimpleManBBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team SimpleManBBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,972 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1507
Fewer contests behind them than SimpleManBBQ has cooked, 5 to 9, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#2,983 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1506
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2019.
⚔ Compare careers#2,965 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1507
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before SimpleManBBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,975 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1506
Level with SimpleManBBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,993 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1506
Their last contest in the data was back in 2014, 12 years before SimpleManBBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smokin' Bandits BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Hogs B Hatin' | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| Purdom's BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| LEE LA Q | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Pig Destroyer | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 178.2972 | 148.5028 | 160.32 | top 51% |
| Pork Ribs | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 174.2744 | 142.2400 | 161.27 | top 44% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.2628 | 155.9200 | 161.09 | top 33% |
“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 | 1 | top 49% |
| Large (40+) | 3 | 0 | top 44% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITORS SERIES) | 3 | 19 | 0 | top 74% | Apr 19, 2024 |
| Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship | 2 | 46 | 0 | top 44% | Mar 20, 2026 |
More numbers
Busiest season
—
3 contests · 1 GC
Contests a season
1.5
across 6 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
TN
6 of 9 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
5
2 of them more than once
Opponents faced
405
finished ahead 260 times, behind 297
Longest layoff
4 yrs
May 24, 2019 → May 12, 2023
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20262 milestones
- Peak power rating (1506) Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship
- Most recent contest Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship
20252 milestones
- Career-best overall score518.2628 Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITOR SERIES)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)178.2972 Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITOR SERIES)
—8 milestones
- First tracked contest Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First call Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First category win (Chicken) Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall top-10 Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall podium Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First Grand Championship Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score330.3888 Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Biggest field won (39 teams) Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +4 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship | Mar 20, 2026 |
| +3.1 | Red, White, and BBQ Day 1 | May 24, 2019 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -0.8 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship | Mar 15, 2024 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 33% | top 37% | 91.8% | 90.7% |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 37% | 89.5% | 89.5% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 19% | 96% | 96% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 71% | 90.1% | 87.4% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 59% | 91.1% | 91.1% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 45% | 85.8% | 85.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 2026 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship 🏅 Lebanon, TN | 46 / 125 (322.2404) | 50 (158.2288) | 36 (164.0116) | 32 (166.2628) | — |
| Apr 25, 2025 | Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITOR SERIES) unrated Murfreesboro, TN | 6 / 31 (518.2628) | 2 (178.2972) | 20 (165.1200) | — | — |
| Apr 19, 2024 | Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITORS SERIES) unrated Murfreesboro, TN | 34 / 37 (486.7428) | 35 (156.5028) | 33 (160.5372) | — | — |
| Mar 15, 2024 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship 🏅 Lebanon, TN | 47 / 93 (304.4800) | 30 (162.2400) | 49 (142.2400) | 38 (155.9200) | — |
| May 12, 2023 | Dr. George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITORS SERIES) unrated Murfreesboro, TN | 19 / 32 (491.9544) | 26 (155.3600) | 5 (174.2744) | — | — |
| May 24, 2019 | Red, White, and BBQ Day 1 🏅 Westmont, IL | 18 / 40 (309.0400) | 26 (148.5028) | 12 (160.5372) | — | — |
| — | Dr.George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITORS SERIES) unrated Murfreesboro, TN | 26 / 36 (484.4456) | 30 (154.7884) | 19 (161.6800) | — | — |
| — | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 1 / 39 (330.3888) | 1 (168.6172) | 6 (161.7716) | — | — |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.