The heartbreaker
1.1428
points from the title
Came within 1.1428 points of the Grand Championship at Iowa State BBQ Championship (2025-04-04).
The Bearded Bandits
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1508
peak 1520 · rated over 5 contests ⓘ
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
2024-03-29
latest 2025-10-03
Best ToY finish
#179
Backyard 2025
Grand champs
0
1 reserve
Category wins
1
3 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 57%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
663.15
last 3 Master vs avg 663.15 (+0.00)
Walk rate
60%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±7.24
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 174.62 · weakest Brisket (154.25)
Road miles
280
mi across 5 mapped stops · furthest 101 mi
Schedule strength
76%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1597)
Purse competed for
$66K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 5 state-championship entries
Master avg
663.15 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
347.40 / 360
2 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Master and Backyard overall scores sit on different scales (Master is 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.
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.
Happy hunting ground
Top 16%
average finish here
Iowa State BBQ Championship is their spot: an average finish in the top 16% across 2 visits.
- 2 visits
- best finish 2nd
- average top 16%
High-water mark
671.9316
career-best overall
93.3% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 671.9316 at King of the Corn — 93.3% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- 2025-05-16
A tough matchup
4–1
behind in the head-to-head
Bramble BBQ ahead in 80% of their meetings
Bramble BBQ has come out ahead in 4 of their 5 shared contests.
A strong matchup
3–1
ahead in the head-to-head
Ahead in 75% of their meetings
They've finished ahead of SMOKEHOUSE 72 in 3 of their 4 shared contests.
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.
111 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2885 of the rated field
- Contests
- 13
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 15%
- Peak
- 1515
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to The Bearded Bandits)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team The Bearded Bandits has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2901 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1515
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#2903 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1513
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2017, 7 years before The Bearded Bandits's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#2877 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1516
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before The Bearded Bandits's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#2879 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1520
No shared contest yet.
Level with The Bearded Bandits on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#2875 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1518
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 9 years before The Bearded Bandits's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucknutz BBQ | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| Smokin Suckers | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| T-Rex BBQ | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| Bramble BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| HOT DADDY'S BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 178.2972 | 170.2744 | 174.62 | top 27% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 175.4172 | 159.9428 | 169.01 | top 51% |
| Pork | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 177.1428 | 161.6800 | 167.78 | top 62% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 156.5488 | 151.3944 | 154.25 | top 96% |
“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 state / province
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| IA | 4 | 0 | top 51% |
| MO | 1 | 0 | top 82% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 84% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 16% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State BBQ Championship | 2 | 2 | 0 | top 16% | 2025-04-04 |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
1.5 yrs
2024-03-29 → 2025-10-03
Busiest season
2025
3 contests
Contests a season
2.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
IA
4 of 5 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
4
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
5 entries · 1 win · 3 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 174.62 · weakest Brisket (154.25)
Walk rate
60%
a top-10 call in 3 of 5 contests
Overall top-10 rate
20%
1 of 5 contests
Master average
663.15
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Backyard average
347.40
out of 360 · 2 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
155
163–112 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
280
5 mapped stops · furthest 101 mi
Schedule strength
1597
average field rating faced — tougher than 76% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$66,000
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 5 state-championship entries
Power rating
1508
peak 1520 · #2892 of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2024
- First tracked contest Iowa State BBQ Championship
- First call Iowa State BBQ Championship
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score341.6684 Iowa State BBQ Championship
- 2025
- First category win (Chicken) Iowa State BBQ Championship
- First overall top-10 Iowa State BBQ Championship
- First overall podium Iowa State BBQ Championship
- First Reserve Championship Iowa State BBQ Championship
- Peak power rating (1520) Iowa State BBQ Championship
- Career-best overall score671.9316 King of the Corn
- Career-best single call (Chicken)178.2972 King of the Corn
- Most recent contest La Belle MO Show Me BBQ Showdown
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +18.9 | Iowa State BBQ Championship | 2025-04-04 |
| +10.7 | Iowa State BBQ Championship | 2024-03-29 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.9 | King of the Corn | 2024-05-17 |
| -5.9 | La Belle MO Show Me BBQ Showdown | 2025-10-03 |
| -5.7 | King of the Corn | 2025-05-16 |
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)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 67% | top 55% | 98.1% | 94.5% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 60% | 94.9% | 92.9% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-03 | La Belle MO Show Me BBQ Showdown 🏅 La Belle, MO | 32 / 39 (663.3256) | 18 (173.7028) | 20 (173.7028) | 37 (164.5256) | 36 (151.3944) |
| 2025-05-16 | King of the Corn 🏅 Ottumwa, IA | 26 / 33 (671.9316) | 3 (178.2972) | 33 (159.9428) | 3 (177.1428) | 33 (156.5488) |
| 2025-04-04 | Iowa State BBQ Championship 🏅 Altoona, IA | 2 / 49 (353.1316) | 1 (177.7144) | 6 (175.4172) | — | — |
| 2024-05-17 | King of the Corn 🏅 Ottumwa, IA | 33 / 36 (654.1944) | 22 (170.2744) | 20 (167.4400) | 29 (161.6800) | 34 (154.8000) |
| 2024-03-29 | Iowa State BBQ Championship 🏅 Altoona, IA | 12 / 42 (341.6684) | 8 (173.1200) | 16 (168.5484) | — | — |
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 ↗ | Backyard | #179 (260 pts) | #174 (285 pts) | #259 (175 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #926 (118 pts) | #583 (328 pts) | #947 (143 pts) | #599 (293 pts) | #967 (118 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #285 (125 pts) | #269 (155 pts) | #331 (105 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1182 (60 pts) | #1190 (75 pts) | #1213 (85 pts) | #1231 (60 pts) | #1204 (60 pts) |