Bandits BBQ

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#4582

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1471

peak 1471 · rated over 6 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2015-05-08

latest 2025-10-11

Best ToY finish

#830

Master 2025

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

0 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 7 contests

Avg finish

top 80%

overall standings

Best overall

684.4796 / 720

Master · V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition

Perfect 180s

Current form

642.96 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 637.98 (+4.98)

Walk rate

14%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

174.8456

Pork Ribs · V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition

Consistency

±27.75

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 162.54 · weakest Brisket (153.47)

Road miles

5,262

mi across 7 mapped stops · furthest 4869 mi

Schedule strength

70%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1588)

Master avg

637.98 / 720

6 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (5 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.

High-water mark

684.4796 career-best overall

95.1% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 684.4796 at V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition — 95.1% of a perfect 720.

Master
2025-10-11

A tough matchup

5–0 behind in the head-to-head

THUNDER HOG BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings

THUNDER HOG BBQ has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.

The weak link

−9.1 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 9.07 points below their pork ribs, and turns into a call 17% of the time against 17%.

Brisket avg 153.47
Pork Ribs avg 162.54
1 calls in 6 entries

The comeback

8.4 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 8.4 years, then back at V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition (2025-10-11).

last seen 2017-05-12
back 2025-10-11

The long haul

5,262 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 5,262 miles across 7 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 4,869 miles to V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition.

7 mapped stops
furthest 4,869 mi

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.

130 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

CARNIVORE'S PARADISE

#4574 of the rated field

1471 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 46
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 9%
Peak: 1524

1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Bandits BBQ)

One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Bandits BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

rated over 45 contests
last seen 2021-11-05

⚔ Head-to-head

Big Stanky's BBQ

#4596 of the rated field

1470 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 17%
Peak: 1470

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 6 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 6 contests
last seen 2025-12-05

⚔ Head-to-head

Louisville Branded BBQ

#4587 of the rated field

1471 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1501

No shared contest yet.

They've been 1501 at their best, 31 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 6 contests
last seen 2020-06-20

⚔ Head-to-head

SOUTHERN BOOTLEGGERS BBQ TEAM

#4581 of the rated field

1471 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1501

No shared contest yet.

Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before Bandits BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 6 contests

⚔ Head-to-head

CHEW, FAT BOY! CHEW! BBQ

#4594 of the rated field

1470 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1470

No shared contest yet.

Level with Bandits BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 6 contests
last seen 2015-09-25

⚔ Head-to-head

SKEET'S Q

#4573 of the rated field

1471 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1471

No shared contest yet.

Their last contest in the data was back in 2015, 10 years before Bandits BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 6 contests

⚔ Head-to-head

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
BONEHEAD BBQ	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare
THUNDER HOG BBQ	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN HOOSIERS	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
GREY STREET BBQ	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	6	0	166.8456	150.2744	159.68	top 84%
Pork Ribs	6	1	174.8456	153.0744	162.54	top 65%
Pork	6	1	174.2628	145.0856	162.28	top 63%
Brisket	6	1	168.5256	142.7772	153.47	top 82%

“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 contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	5	0	top 77%
Large (40+)	1	0	top 98%

The story so far (15 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 10.4 yrs 2015-05-08 → 2025-10-11

Busiest season 2016 3 contests

Contests a season 1.8 across 4 seasons in the data

Cooks most in IN 6 of 7 contests

Contests visited 6 0 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 6 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls

Strongest meat Pork Ribs averages 162.54 · weakest Brisket (153.47)

Walk rate 14% a top-10 call in 1 of 7 contests

Overall top-10 rate 14% 1 of 7 contests

Master average 637.98 out of 720 · 6 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 118 33–152 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 5,262 7 mapped stops · furthest 4,869 mi

Schedule strength 1588 average field rating faced — tougher than 70% of rated contests

Longest layoff 8.4 yrs 2017-05-12 → 2025-10-11

Power rating 1471 peak 1471 · #4582 of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2015
May 8 First tracked contest Rockin' BBQ for Riley
May 8 Peak power rating (1489) Rockin' BBQ for Riley
2016
Jul 15 First overall past 90% of a perfect score659.9316 Wine,Brew & Bar-B-Que Too!
2025
Oct 11 First call V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition
Oct 11 First overall top-10 V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition
Oct 11 Career-best overall score684.4796 V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition
Oct 11 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)174.8456 V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition
Oct 11 Most recent contest V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+6.4	V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition	2025-10-11
+1.2	Wine,Brew & Bar-B-Que Too!	2016-07-15

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-11.9	CCS Fest: CCS Spring Festival & BBQ Competition	2016-04-22
-11.1	Rockin' BBQ for Riley	2015-05-08
-8.2	Rockin BBQ	2016-05-13
-5.8	*Rockin BBQ	2017-05-12

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	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2025	1	1	100%	top 43%	95.1%	95.1%
2017	1	0	0%	top 85%	88%	88%
2016	3	0	0%	top 86%	91.7%	87.8%
2015	2	0	0%	top 96%	85.1%	85.1%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2025-10-11	V. I Love Smoky Exhibition and BBQ Competition Szerencs, 3900	9 / 21 (684.4796)	19 (166.8456)	6 (174.8456)	6 (174.2628)	7 (168.5256)
2017-05-12	*Rockin BBQ Warsaw, IN	23 / 27 (633.5088)	20 (163.9428)	23 (153.0744)	23 (158.8228)	21 (157.6688)
2016-07-15	Wine,Brew & Bar-B-Que Too! New Palestine, IN	26 / 39 (659.9316)	28 (162.8344)	18 (169.1316)	18 (169.1428)	33 (158.8228)
2016-05-13	Rockin BBQ Warsaw, IN	26 / 28 (635.3488)	21 (161.0972)	18 (165.1544)	14 (166.3200)	28 (142.7772)
2016-04-22	CCS Fest: CCS Spring Festival & BBQ Competition Indianapolis, IN	48 / 49 (601.5200)	49 (150.2744)	37 (155.9544)	48 (145.0856)	46 (150.2056)
2015-07-17	Wine, Brew & Bar-B-Que Too! New Palestine, IN	—	—	—	—	—
2015-05-08	Rockin' BBQ for Riley Warsaw, IN	26 / 27 (613.0628)	25 (153.1084)	24 (157.0972)	19 (160.0456)	27 (142.8116)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)

Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2025 ↗	Master	#830 (131 pts)	#1161 (76 pts)	#899 (161 pts)	#825 (161 pts)	#845 (151 pts)