High-water mark
481.6228
career-best overall
133.8% of a perfect 360
Their best day on record: 481.6228 at Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) — 133.8% of a perfect 360.
- Backyard
- 2023-03-10
Smokin Buddies BBQ
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1488
peak 1503 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2023-03-10
latest 2026-03-13
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 66%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
358.63
last 4 Backyard vs avg 358.63 (+0.00)
Walk rate
25%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±71.17
std dev of Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 164.98 · weakest Pork Ribs (154.81)
Road miles
0
mi across 4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
27%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1537)
Purse competed for
$17K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
Backyard avg
358.63 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Storylines (4 found in this team's record)
Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.
A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
LEE LA Q ahead in 100% of their meetings
LEE LA Q has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
A strong matchup
4–0
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 100% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of Island Pig Posse in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
A standing appointment
4
years running at one contest
They've cooked Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) every year from 2023 to 2026 — the contest they never miss.
- 4 visits in all
- best finish 14th
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.
Smokin Buddies BBQ has 4 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 142 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#3758 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1488
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#3748 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 80%
- Peak
- 1488
No shared contest yet.
4 straight overall top-10s says this rating is a moving target.
⚔ Head-to-head#3776 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1509
No shared contest yet.
Level with Smokin Buddies BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#3740 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1504
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#3764 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1503
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2023, 3 years before Smokin Buddies BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#3772 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1501
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2017, 6 years before Smokin Buddies BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 176.0000 | 155.9768 | 164.98 | top 48% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161.7028 | 143.3484 | 154.81 | top 79% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 163.3940 | 147.9316 | 156.97 | top 77% |
| Brisket | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
“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.
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 4 | 14 | 0 | top 66% | 2026-03-13 |
The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
3 yrs
2023-03-10 → 2026-03-13
Busiest season
2026
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
AL
4 of 4 contests
Contests visited
1
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 164.98 · weakest Pork Ribs (154.81)
Walk rate
25%
a top-10 call in 1 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 4 contests
Backyard average
358.63
out of 360 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
77
41–74 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
0
4 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1537
average field rating faced — tougher than 27% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$17,300
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
Longest layoff
1 yrs
2025-03-07 → 2026-03-13
Power rating
1488
peak 1503 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2023
- First tracked contest Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score481.6228 Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best overall score481.6228 Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1503) Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2026
- First call Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)176.0000 Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Most recent contest Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +3.4 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2023-03-10 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.7 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2024-03-09 |
| -2.6 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2026-03-13 |
| -2.5 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2025-03-07 |
Category scores over time
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 63% | 88.7% | 88.7% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 67% | 89.8% | 89.8% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 89% | 86.2% | 86.2% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 45% | 133.8% | 133.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-13 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Foley, AL | 19 / 30 (319.3484) | 2 (176.0000) | 30 (143.3484) | 18 (161.1656) | — |
| 2025-03-07 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Foley, AL | 20 / 30 (323.3600) | 17 (163.4056) | 22 (159.9544) | 21 (163.3940) | — |
| 2024-03-09 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Foley, AL | 25 / 28 (310.2056) | 22 (155.9768) | 26 (154.2288) | 29 (147.9316) | — |
| 2023-03-10 | Foley BBQ & Blues Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Foley, AL | 14 / 31 (481.6228) | 15 (164.5256) | 15 (161.7028) | 23 (155.3944) | — |