A tough matchup
5–0
behind in the head-to-head
LEE LA Q ahead in 100% of their meetings
LEE LA Q has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.
KEY'S Southern Spice
KEY'S Southern Spice is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2023 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 13th of 30 at the Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) (2026). They are ranked #4554 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1472
peak 1472 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Mar 10, 2023
latest Mar 13, 2026 · 3 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podium
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 76%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
40%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±68.73
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 163.54 · weakest Chicken (157.56)
Road miles
666
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 100 mi
Schedule strength
41%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1555)
Purse competed for
$100K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 2 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
280.22 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
455.31 / 540
1 Backyard (3-meat) contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), 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 KEY'S Southern Spice, each with one reason worth a look.
141 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4,553 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1505
1–2 in 3 shared contests (33% to KEY'S Southern Spice)
These two have cooked 3 of the same contests — T-Ray's Rack Rubbers ahead 2–1 — so there's a record behind this pairing and not just a matching number.
⚔ Head-to-head#4,559 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1506
0–0 in 1 shared contest (0% to KEY'S Southern Spice)
They've been 1506 at their best, 34 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4,555 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1472
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#4,540 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1472
Level with KEY'S Southern Spice on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#4,561 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1472
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#4,541 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1472
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before KEY'S Southern Spice'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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEE LA Q | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Groundhog Smokers | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.2284 | 149.0856 | 157.56 | top 73% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 172.5600 | 157.6456 | 163.54 | top 54% |
| Pork | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 175.4400 | 134.2172 | 157.69 | top 51% |
“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 67% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 89% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 3 | 13 | 0 | top 67% | Mar 13, 2026 |
| Poosa Q | 2 | 56 | 0 | top 89% | Oct 4, 2024 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2024
2 contests
Contests a season
1.7
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AL
5 of 5 contests
Contests visited
2
2 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
5 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Opponents faced
233
finished ahead 46 times, behind 287
Longest layoff
1.4 yrs
Oct 4, 2024 → Mar 13, 2026
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20262 milestones
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score332.5600 Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Most recent contest Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
20242 milestones
- First call Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Pork)175.4400 Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
20233 milestones
- First tracked contest Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best overall score455.3144 Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1489) Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +5.1 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | Mar 13, 2026 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.5 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | Mar 10, 2023 |
| -10 | Poosa Q | Oct 4, 2024 |
| -9.2 | Poosa Q | Oct 5, 2023 |
| -2.5 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | Mar 9, 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 43% | 92.4% | 92.4% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 81% | 88.7% | 87% |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 87% | 84.3% | 64.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 2026 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Foley, AL | 13 / 30 (332.5600) | 17 (160) | 6 (172.5600) | 14 (163.4056) | — |
| Oct 4, 2024 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 56 / 59 (306.7312) | 57 (149.0856) | 52 (157.6456) | — | — |
| Mar 9, 2024 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Foley, AL | 19 / 28 (319.3600) | 23 (155.9428) | 15 (163.4172) | 2 (175.4400) | — |
| Oct 5, 2023 | Poosa Q 🏅 Montgomery, AL | 61 / 73 (162.2284) | 49 (162.2284) | — | — | — |
| Mar 10, 2023 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Foley, AL | 28 / 31 (455.3144) | 19 (160.5600) | 17 (160.5372) | 31 (134.2172) | — |