High-water mark
674.8570
career-best overall
93.7% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 674.8570 at Smokelawn — 93.7% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- May 3, 2013
Bad To The Bone
Bad To The Bone is a competition barbecue team with 11 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2013 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 4th of 41 at the Smokelawn (2013). They are ranked #3428 of 6,485 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1495
peak 1514 · rated over 6 contests1 invitational or side-series contest not counted
Contests
11
in the data
First seen
May 3, 2013
latest Jun 27, 2025 · 12.2 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
9% of 11 contests
Avg finish
top 64%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
626.96 ▼
last 5 Master vs avg 637.85 (-10.89)
Walk rate
45%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±19.93
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 166.84 · weakest Chicken (153.84)
Road miles
5,294
across 11 mapped stops · furthest 1,623 mi
Schedule strength
35%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1546)
Purse competed for
$6,150
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Master avg
637.85 / 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 ↗ | Master | #1218 (216 pts) | #2521 (66 pts) | #1434 (181 pts) | #1505 (161 pts) | #1183 (241 pts) |
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Bad To The Bone, each with one reason worth a look.
128 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,434 of the rated field
- Contests
- 34
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 15%
- Peak
- 1522
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Bad To The Bone)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Bad To The Bone has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,425 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1495
Fewer contests behind them than Bad To The Bone has cooked, 7 to 11, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#3,441 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
They turned up 9 years after Bad To The Bone did, first appearing in 2022.
⚔ Compare careers#3,429 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 57%
- Peak
- 1504
Level with Bad To The Bone on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,438 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 43%
- Peak
- 1495
Fewer contests behind them than Bad To The Bone has cooked, 7 to 11, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#3,435 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1510
Fewer contests behind them than Bad To The Bone has cooked, 7 to 11, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 158.8568 | 147.9656 | 153.84 | top 84% |
| Pork Ribs | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 171.9884 | 161.1084 | 166.84 | top 48% |
| Pork | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 171.4172 | 149.6800 | 160.63 | top 61% |
| Brisket | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 174.8572 | 147.3944 | 158.65 | top 60% |
“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 78% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 0 | top 54% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
4 contests
Contests a season
2.2
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
AR
5 of 11 contests · 5 states in all
Contests visited
7
a different one every time
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
9 entries · 0 wins · 4 calls
Opponents faced
701
finished ahead 357 times, behind 514
Longest layoff
7.1 yrs
Jun 8, 2018 → Jun 27, 2025
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20252 milestones
- 10th tracked contest CabotFest Bags n BBQ (ONE MEAT RIBS)
- Most recent contest CabotFest Bags n BBQ (ONE MEAT PORK)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +13.9 | Smokelawn | May 3, 2013 |
| +1.1 | 34th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open | Oct 3, 2013 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.4 | Old Town Smokeout | Jun 27, 2025 |
| -4.5 | Oaktown Throwdown | Aug 1, 2014 |
| -3.8 | Annual Poor Que | Jun 8, 2018 |
| -2.4 | Smokin' Aces BBQ Festival | Sep 20, 2013 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75% | top 96% | 87.9% | 87.9% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 69% | 87.8% | 87.8% |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 68% | 85.2% | 85.2% |
| 2013 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25% | top 54% | 93.7% | 89.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 10, 2025 | CabotFest Bags n BBQ (ONE MEAT PORK) Cabot, AR | — | — | — | 3 (169.1316) | — |
| Oct 10, 2025 | CabotFest Bags n BBQ (ONE MEAT RIBS) Cabot, AR | — | — | 4 (171.9884) | — | — |
| Jun 27, 2025 | Old Town Smokeout 🏅 Van Buren, AR | 26 / 27 (632.9828) | 27 (150.2400) | 24 (166.8228) | 26 (159.4172) | 25 (156.5028) |
| Jun 27, 2025 | Old Town Smokeout (ONE MEAT RIBS) Van Buren, AR | — | — | 5 (167.9656) | — | — |
| Jun 8, 2018 | Annual Poor Que Montello, WI | 18 / 26 (632.4344) | 22 (153.0972) | 9 (165.6800) | 21 (156.5944) | 17 (157.0628) |
| Sep 29, 2016 | Hog Wild BBQ Festival Corinth, MS | — | — | — | — | — |
| Aug 1, 2014 | Oaktown Throwdown Oakland, CA | 15 / 22 (613.5540) | 17 (147.9656) | 11 (161.1084) | 16 (149.6800) | 13 (154.8000) |
| Oct 3, 2013 | 34th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Invitational unrated Kansas City, MO | 168 / 174 (616.3996) | 169 (151.9196) | 87 (164.5600) | 166 (152.5256) | 165 (147.3944) |
| Oct 3, 2013 | 34th Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open Kansas City, MO | 258 / 535 (639.4172) | 341 (157.6912) | 179 (163.4860) | 365 (155.9540) | 185 (162.2860) |
| Sep 20, 2013 | Smokin' Aces BBQ Festival Tunica, MS | 32 / 53 (655.3028) | 47 (157.1200) | 16 (169.1200) | 12 (171.4172) | 36 (157.6456) |
| May 3, 2013 | Smokelawn Hot Springs, AR | 4 / 41 (674.8570) | 31 (158.8568) | 6 (170.8574) | 8 (170.2856) | 3 (174.8572) |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.