High-water mark
674.7656
career-best overall
93.7% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 674.7656 at Transylvanian Grill & BBQ Camp — 93.7% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- May 10, 2025
Bobo's BBQ
Bobo's BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 8 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 5th of 10 at the Transylvanian Grill & BBQ Camp (2025). They are ranked #4394 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1475
peak 1503 · rated over 7 contests1 invitational or side-series contest not counted
Contests
8
in the data
First seen
May 3, 2019
latest Sep 25, 2026 · 7.4 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
3
38% of 8 contests
Best top-10 run
3
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 70%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
614.66 ▼
last 5 Master vs avg 622.63 (-7.97)
Walk rate
50%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±54.20
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 164.47 · weakest Pork Ribs (139.74)
Road miles
22,517
across 8 mapped stops · furthest 5,711 mi
Schedule strength
55%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1570)
Purse competed for
$44K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 4 state-championship entries
Master avg
622.63 / 720
7 Master contests · 0 GCs
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #768 (147 pts) | #872 (137 pts) | #903 (147 pts) | #795 (147 pts) | #802 (147 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #775 (160 pts) | #960 (120 pts) | #838 (185 pts) | #882 (140 pts) | #664 (235 pts) |
| 2019 ↗ | Master | #1581 (118 pts) | #1091 (242 pts) | #1815 (97 pts) | #1233 (203 pts) | #1712 (107 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Bobo's BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
146 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4,390 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 25%
- Peak
- 1475
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Bobo's BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Bobo's BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#4,400 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1475
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Bobo's BBQ)
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before Bobo's BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4,392 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1475
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Bobo's BBQ)
Fewer contests behind them than Bobo's BBQ has cooked, 5 to 8, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Head-to-head#4,410 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1475
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Bobo's BBQ)
Level with Bobo's BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4,415 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1475
They turned up 5 years after Bobo's BBQ did, first appearing in 2024.
⚔ Compare careers#4,370 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1476
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 8, 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 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 173.7256 | 150.2400 | 164.47 | top 58% |
| Pork Ribs | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 173.7028 | 20 | 139.74 | top 70% |
| Pork | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 170.2628 | 157.0856 | 162.45 | top 67% |
| Brisket | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 171.4172 | 139.3944 | 156.89 | 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.
By field size and state
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 4 | 0 | top 68% |
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 69% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 76% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2026
3 contests
Contests a season
2
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
OK
2 of 8 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
8
a different one every time
Opponents faced
207
finished ahead 60 times, behind 181
Longest layoff
4.9 yrs
Jun 12, 2020 → May 10, 2025
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20261 milestone
- Most recent contest First State BBQ Bash
20252 milestones
- First overall top-10 Transylvanian Grill & BBQ Camp
- Career-best overall score674.7656 Transylvanian Grill & BBQ Camp
20195 milestones
- First tracked contest Bixby BBQ'n Blues Festival
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score649.7028 Bixby BBQ'n Blues Festival
- First call Transylvanian BBQ Festival
- Career-best single call (Chicken)173.7256 Cherokee Strip BBQ Cook-Off
- Peak power rating (1503) Cherokee Strip BBQ Cook-Off
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +6.7 | Cherokee Strip BBQ Cook-Off | Sep 20, 2019 |
| +1.8 | Transylvanian Grill & BBQ Camp | May 10, 2025 |
| +1.7 | Bixby BBQ'n Blues Festival | May 3, 2019 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.1 | First State BBQ Bash | Sep 25, 2026 |
| -10 | Beats, Brews, & BBQ | Jun 12, 2020 |
| -9.8 | Transylvanian Steak & BBQ Fest | May 9, 2026 |
| -5.2 | Transylvanian BBQ Festival | May 18, 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 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33% | top 80% | 85.7% | 78.6% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 50% | 93.7% | 93.7% |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 98% | 86.2% | 86.2% |
| 2019 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67% | top 58% | 92% | 90.2% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25, 2026 | First State BBQ Bash 🏅 Milford, DE | 37 / 39 (617.0060) | 36 (150.2400) | 39 (149.0744) | 35 (159.3828) | 33 (158.3088) |
| Aug 16, 2026 | Great Lakes Smoke Showdown BBQ Cook Off (COMPETITOR SERIES) unrated Lapeer, MI | 7 / 12 (582.8232) | — | — | — | — |
| May 9, 2026 | Transylvanian Steak & BBQ Fest Targu Mures | 6 / 7 (498.7540) | 7 (157.6800) | 6 (20) | 6 (162.2512) | 6 (158.8228) |
| May 10, 2025 | Transylvanian Grill & BBQ Camp Targu Mures | 5 / 10 (674.7656) | 9 (161.6456) | 4 (173.7028) | 7 (168) | 2 (171.4172) |
| Jun 12, 2020 | Beats, Brews, & BBQ 🏅 Wagoner, OK | 54 / 55 (620.5144) | 38 (165.1428) | 41 (160) | — | 55 (139.3944) |
| Sep 20, 2019 | Cherokee Strip BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Ponca City, OK | 12 / 28 (662.2400) | 4 (173.7256) | 22 (156.5716) | 4 (170.2628) | 16 (161.6800) |
| May 18, 2019 | Transylvanian BBQ Festival Covasna County | 13 / 17 (635.3944) | 2 (173.1544) | 14 (150.8228) | 12 (157.7028) | 12 (153.7144) |
| May 3, 2019 | Bixby BBQ'n Blues Festival 🏅 | 30 / 56 (649.7028) | 17 (169.7256) | 15 (168) | 39 (157.0856) | 41 (154.8916) |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.