High-water mark
334.2400
career-best overall
92.8% of a perfect 360
Their best day on record: 334.2400 at Maryland State BBQ Bash — 92.8% of a perfect 360.
- Backyard
- Oct 13, 2023
Top Hat Smoking BBQ
Top Hat Smoking BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 5th of 23 at the Maryland State BBQ Bash (2023). They are ranked #2295 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1527
peak 1530 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Aug 9, 2019
latest Oct 10, 2025 · 6.2 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
1 podium
Overall top-10s
2
40% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 43%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
40%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±4.31
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 168.28 · weakest Pork Ribs (159.71)
Road miles
0
across 5 mapped stops
Schedule strength
22%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1530)
Purse competed for
$63K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 5 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
327.99 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
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 Top Hat Smoking BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
66 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,293 of the rated field
- Contests
- 17
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 18%
- Peak
- 1527
1–1 in 2 shared contests (50% to Top Hat Smoking BBQ)
2 contests in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Top Hat Smoking BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,302 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 60%
- Peak
- 1533
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,290 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1527
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2019.
⚔ Compare careers#2,297 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 60%
- Peak
- 1527
Level with Top Hat Smoking BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,288 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1532
Their last contest in the data was back in 2020, 5 years before Top Hat Smoking BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,296 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1527
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 9 years before Top Hat Smoking BBQ'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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bone Suckin' Good BBQ | 5 | 5 | 0 | 100% | ⚔ compare |
| Pig Kahunas | 5 | 5 | 0 | 100% | ⚔ compare |
| Team Meat Coma | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| HARCO LOCO BBQ | 5 | 2 | 1 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| Capt. Blue BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 177.7028 | 159.3944 | 168.28 | top 43% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164.5944 | 156.5372 | 159.71 | top 75% |
“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.
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland State BBQ Bash | 3 | 5 | 0 | top 27% | Oct 13, 2023 |
| MD State BBQ Bash | 2 | 15 | 0 | top 66% | Oct 10, 2025 |
More numbers
Contests a season
1
across 5 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
MD
5 of 5 contests
Contests visited
2
2 of them more than once
Opponents faced
181
finished ahead 208 times, behind 103
Longest layoff
2.2 yrs
Aug 9, 2019 → Oct 15, 2021
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest MD State BBQ Bash
20234 milestones
- First category win (Chicken) Maryland State BBQ Bash
- Career-best overall score334.2400 Maryland State BBQ Bash
- Career-best single call (Chicken)177.7028 Maryland State BBQ Bash
- Peak power rating (1530) Maryland State BBQ Bash
20212 milestones
- First call Maryland State BBQ Bash
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score329.7716 Maryland State BBQ Bash
20192 milestones
- First tracked contest Maryland State BBQ Bash
- First overall top-10 Maryland State BBQ Bash
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +13.1 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | Aug 9, 2019 |
| +11.1 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | Oct 13, 2023 |
| +6.1 | Maryland State BBQ Bash | Oct 15, 2021 |
| +2.7 | MD State BBQ Bash | Oct 10, 2025 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -5.9 | MD State BBQ Bash | Oct 11, 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 52% | 90% | 90% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 81% | 90% | 90% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 22% | 92.8% | 92.8% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 44% | 91.6% | 91.6% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% | top 17% | 87.6% | 87.6% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 10, 2025 | MD State BBQ Bash 🏅 Bel Air, MD | 15 / 29 (323.9660) | 13 (167.3944) | 25 (156.5716) | — | — |
| Oct 11, 2024 | MD State BBQ Bash 🏅 Bel Air, MD | 21 / 26 (323.9888) | 25 (159.3944) | 16 (164.5944) | — | — |
| Oct 13, 2023 | Maryland State BBQ Bash 🏅 Bel Air, MD | 5 / 23 (334.2400) | 1 (177.7028) | 22 (156.5372) | — | — |
| Oct 15, 2021 | Maryland State BBQ Bash 🏅 Belair, MD | 11 / 25 (329.7716) | 7 (168.6172) | 14 (161.1544) | — | — |
| Aug 9, 2019 | Maryland State BBQ Bash 🏅 Belair, MD | 5 / 30 (315.5204) | — | — | — | — |