The heartbreaker
1.1428
points from the title
Came within 1.1428 points of the Grand Championship at Iowa State BBQ Championship (Apr 4, 2025).
The Bearded Bandits
The Bearded Bandits is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2024 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 49 at the Iowa State BBQ Championship (2025), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once. They are ranked #2908 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1508
peak 1520 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Mar 29, 2024
latest Oct 3, 2025 · 1.5 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
1 reserve
Category wins
1
3 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
20% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 57%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
60%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±7.24
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 174.62 · weakest Brisket (154.25)
Road miles
280
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 101 mi
Schedule strength
75%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1597)
Purse competed for
$66K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 5 state-championship entries
Master avg
663.15 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
347.40 / 360
2 Backyard contests · 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 ↗ | 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) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to The Bearded Bandits, each with one reason worth a look.
110 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,920 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1515
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,917 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1513
They were already cooking in 2017, 7 years before The Bearded Bandits's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#2,895 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1516
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.
⚔ Compare careers#2,896 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1518
Level with The Bearded Bandits on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#2,898 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1520
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.
⚔ Compare careers#2,899 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1508
Their last contest in the data was back in 2013, 12 years before The Bearded Bandits'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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 field size and state
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 84% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 16% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State BBQ Championship | 2 | 2 | 0 | top 16% | Apr 4, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
3 contests
Contests a season
2.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IA
4 of 5 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
4
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
155
finished ahead 163 times, behind 112
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20258 milestones
- 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
20243 milestones
- 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
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +18.8 | Iowa State BBQ Championship | Apr 4, 2025 |
| +10.7 | Iowa State BBQ Championship | Mar 29, 2024 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.9 | King of the Corn | May 17, 2024 |
| -5.9 | La Belle MO Show Me BBQ Showdown | Oct 3, 2025 |
| -5.7 | King of the Corn | May 16, 2025 |
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 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2025 | 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) |
| May 16, 2025 | King of the Corn 🏅 Ottumwa, IA | 26 / 33 (671.9316) | 3 (178.2972) | 33 (159.9428) | 3 (177.1428) | 33 (156.5488) |
| Apr 4, 2025 | Iowa State BBQ Championship 🏅 Altoona, IA | 2 / 49 (353.1316) | 1 (177.7144) | 6 (175.4172) | — | — |
| May 17, 2024 | King of the Corn 🏅 Ottumwa, IA | 33 / 36 (654.1944) | 22 (170.2744) | 20 (167.4400) | 29 (161.6800) | 34 (154.8000) |
| Mar 29, 2024 | Iowa State BBQ Championship 🏅 Altoona, IA | 12 / 42 (341.6684) | 8 (173.1200) | 16 (168.5484) | — | — |