Perfect scores on the board
1
perfect 180
1 perfect 180 in the data — every judge at the table handing back a nine, all in pork.
- Pork ×1
Papa Bears KC Barbecue
Papa Bears KC Barbecue is a competition barbecue team with 13 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2021 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 11th of 11 at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off (2022). They are ranked #6386 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings. Also listed in KCBS results as “Papa Bear's KC Barbecue”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1393
peak 1393 · rated over 12 contests1 invitational or side-series contest not counted
Contests
13
in the data
First seen
Sep 10, 2021
latest Aug 21, 2026 · 4.9 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
1 podium
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 13 contests
Avg finish
top 95%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
622.25 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 584.16 (+38.09)
Walk rate
8%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±94.32
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 158.08 · weakest Brisket (138.65)
Road miles
578
across 13 mapped stops · furthest 204 mi
Schedule strength
64%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1580)
Purse competed for
$285K
listed at 11 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 10 state-championship entries
Master avg
584.16 / 720
10 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
293.05 / 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #957 (113 pts) | #1026 (113 pts) | #1102 (113 pts) | #1002 (113 pts) | #993 (113 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #878 (120 pts) | #977 (120 pts) | #1021 (120 pts) | #938 (120 pts) | #922 (120 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #771 (180 pts) | #834 (180 pts) | #913 (180 pts) | #989 (120 pts) | #989 (120 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Papa Bears KC Barbecue, each with one reason worth a look.
#6,387 of the rated field
- Contests
- 12
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1393
3–1 in 4 shared contests (75% to Papa Bears KC Barbecue)
These two have cooked 4 of the same contests — Papa Bears KC Barbecue ahead 3–1 — so there's a record behind this pairing and not just a matching number.
⚔ Head-to-head#6,384 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1394
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 10 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#6,389 of the rated field
- Contests
- 17
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 6%
- Peak
- 1501
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 8 years before Papa Bears KC Barbecue's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#6,385 of the rated field
- Contests
- 27
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1394
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 27 contests to 13.
⚔ Compare careers#6,388 of the rated field
- Contests
- 52
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 2%
- Peak
- 1392
52 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 2% top-10 finishes rather than wins.
⚔ Compare careers#6,393 of the rated field
- Contests
- 12
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1391
They were already cooking in 2013, 8 years before Papa Bears KC Barbecue's first contest.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOVE 2 Q | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Notch 9 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Barking Dog BBQ | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| IRWIN'S PIT CREW BBQ | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| MEAT RUSHMORE BBQ | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| PARTS 'R' SMOKIN | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Damn Fine Beef & Swine | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| GETTIN' BASTED | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| MAN MEAT BBQ | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Cow Creek BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Dr. Squealgood BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Heavy Smoke BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| MAD MUTT'S BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| SLAPS BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Squealin N Dealin BBQ | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.5144 | 141.6572 | 152.82 | top 91% |
| Pork Ribs | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.7144 | 148.5144 | 157.84 | top 82% |
| Pork | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 180 🔥 | 147.9428 | 158.08 | top 79% |
| Brisket | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 168.5256 | 63.5772 | 138.65 | top 91% |
“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) | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 95% |
| Large (40+) | 9 | 0 | top 94% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | 2 | 374 | 0 | top 90% | Nov 5, 2025 |
| American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | 2 | 463 | 0 | top 95% | Sep 27, 2023 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2022
4 contests
Contests a season
2.2
across 6 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
KS
7 of 13 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
11
2 of them more than once
Opponents faced
998
finished ahead 144 times, behind 2,031
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20264 milestones
- First call Made for KC BBQ Championship 2026 (COMPETITORS SERIES)
- First category win (Pork) Made for KC BBQ Championship 2026 (COMPETITORS SERIES)
- First perfect 180 (Pork) Made for KC BBQ Championship 2026 (COMPETITORS SERIES)
- Most recent contest Made for KC BBQ Championship 2026 (COMPETITORS SERIES)
20242 milestones
- 10th tracked contest American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Career-best overall score632.4916 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
20212 milestones
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Trails
- Peak power rating (1491) Smoke on the Trails
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -13.2 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest | Mar 25, 2022 |
| -13.2 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off | Mar 25, 2022 |
| -10.1 | 5th Annual Qlathe BBQ Championship | Mar 17, 2023 |
| -9.4 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST | Sep 29, 2022 |
| -9.2 | Smoke on the Trails | Sep 10, 2021 |
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 | 1 | 100% | top 100% | 77.9% | 77.9% |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 86.9% | 85.8% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 90% | 87.8% | 87.5% |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 97% | 85.5% | 70.7% |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 96% | 85.5% | 65.4% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 89% | 83.2% | 83.2% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | Made for KC BBQ Championship 2026 (COMPETITORS SERIES) unrated Weston, MO | 43 / 43 (560.6288) | 42 (155.3944) | 40 (161.6572) | 1 (180) | 43 (63.5772) |
| Nov 5, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 374 / 401 (625.4972) | 346 (160.5144) | 389 (148.5144) | 394 (147.9428) | 190 (168.5256) |
| Mar 14, 2025 | University of Arkansas Animal Science Boots, Brews, and BBQ Contest 🏅 Fayetteville, AR | 27 / 28 (610.6628) | 28 (145.0512) | 25 (161.7144) | 26 (158.8228) | 28 (145.0744) |
| Oct 30, 2024 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 387 / 444 (632.4916) | 427 (149.7372) | 208 (169.7144) | 194 (169.7028) | 426 (143.3372) |
| Apr 26, 2024 | Smokin' in the Creek BBQ Contest 🏅 Sugar Creek, MO | 41 / 44 (627.2800) | 38 (159.9544) | 41 (152.5372) | 42 (155.4056) | 36 (159.3828) |
| Sep 27, 2023 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 463 / 487 (615.3256) | 439 (155.9772) | 457 (151.9656) | 451 (153.1084) | 427 (154.2744) |
| Apr 21, 2023 | Smokin in the Creek BBQ 🏅 Sugar Creek, MO | 49 / 51 (609.5884) | 45 (152.5600) | 29 (165.7028) | 51 (149.0856) | 51 (142.2400) |
| Mar 17, 2023 | 5th Annual Qlathe BBQ Championship 🏅 Olathe, KS | 68 / 68 (302.8004) | 67 (147.3716) | 62 (155.4288) | — | — |
| Sep 29, 2022 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - OPEN CONTEST 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 484 / 505 (603.2460) | 414 (159.4056) | 454 (155.3944) | 451 (154.8000) | 495 (133.6460) |
| Jun 17, 2022 | Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off "4 Life" 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 27 / 29 (615.4060) | 28 (150.2744) | 14 (164.5828) | 27 (156.5716) | 28 (143.9772) |
| Mar 25, 2022 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest Kansas City, MO | 24 / 25 (293.0516) | 25 (141.6572) | 24 (151.3944) | — | — |
| Mar 25, 2022 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off Kansas City, MO | 11 / 11 (20) | — | — | — | — |
| Sep 10, 2021 | Smoke on the Trails 🏅 Gardner, KS | 47 / 53 (599.3144) | 40 (155.9772) | 45 (155.4516) | 42 (155.3828) | 52 (132.5028) |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.