High-water mark
690.7540
career-best overall
95.9% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 690.7540 at Bands & BBQ at the Point — 95.9% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Sep 11, 2026
Lil Bear BBQ
Lil Bear BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 6 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2025 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 10th of 38 at the Bands & BBQ at the Point (2026). They finished #699 in the 2025 Master Series Team of the Year standings. Also listed in KCBS results as “Lil' Bear BBQ”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1496
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 4
Contests
6
in the data
First seen
Apr 18, 2025
latest Sep 11, 2026 · 1.4 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
17% of 6 contests
Avg finish
top 61%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
17%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±8.79
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 171.98 · weakest Pork Ribs (165.68)
Road miles
1,503
across 6 mapped stops · furthest 373 mi
Schedule strength
76%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1599)
Purse competed for
$35K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 5 state-championship entries
Master avg
677.31 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Lil Bear BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
Lil Bear BBQ has 4 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 118 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#3,378 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1507
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,372 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1496
Their last contest in the data was back in 2023, 3 years before Lil Bear BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,368 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
They were already cooking in 2013, 12 years before Lil Bear BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#3,373 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
Level with Lil Bear BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,343 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1509
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Lil Bear BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,347 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1506
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 10 years before Lil Bear BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 173.1084 | 168.5256 | 171.25 | top 55% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174.2628 | 157.0856 | 165.68 | top 70% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 173.7028 | 162.2628 | 168.83 | top 63% |
| Brisket | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174.2628 | 167.3828 | 171.98 | top 42% |
“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) | 2 | 0 | top 43% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 79% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
3 contests
Contests a season
2
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IN
2 of 6 contests · 5 states in all
Contests visited
4
a different one every time
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
6 entries · 0 wins · 1 call
Opponents faced
190
finished ahead 71 times, behind 141
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20265 milestones
- First call Bands & BBQ at the Point
- First overall top-10 Bands & BBQ at the Point
- Career-best overall score690.7540 Bands & BBQ at the Point
- Career-best single call (Brisket)174.2628 Bands & BBQ at the Point
- Most recent contest Bands & BBQ at the Point
20252 milestones
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score675.8624 GLBBQA Spring Fling
- Peak power rating (1496) GLBBQA Spring Fling
20241 milestone
- First tracked contest Rockin' BBQ Warsaw (ONE MEAT RIBS)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +7.8 | Bands & BBQ at the Point | Sep 11, 2026 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -6.6 | Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard | Sep 19, 2025 |
| -3.6 | GLBBQA Spring Fling | Apr 18, 2025 |
| -1.4 | Smoke on the Mountain | Jul 25, 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 26% | 95.9% | 95.9% |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 73% | 94% | 93.4% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2026 | Bands & BBQ at the Point 🏅 Carrollton, KY | 10 / 38 (690.7540) | 25 (168.5256) | 8 (174.2628) | 14 (173.7028) | 7 (174.2628) |
| Sep 19, 2025 | Murphysboro BBQ Cook-off/Praise the Lard 🏅 Murphysboro, IL | 49 / 56 (666.1140) | 39 (170.8228) | 52 (161.6572) | 47 (166.2512) | 45 (167.3828) |
| Jul 25, 2025 | Smoke on the Mountain 🏅 Galax, VA | 22 / 37 (676.5256) | 14 (172.5600) | 19 (168) | 34 (162.2628) | 13 (173.7028) |
| Apr 18, 2025 | GLBBQA Spring Fling 🏅 Charlotte, MI | 40 / 56 (675.8624) | 27 (173.1084) | 54 (157.0856) | 22 (173.1084) | 18 (172.5600) |
| Jun 7, 2024 | Hoosier BBQ Classic (ONE MEAT RIBS) Franklin, IN | — | — | 13 (166.8228) | — | — |
| May 17, 2024 | Rockin' BBQ Warsaw (ONE MEAT RIBS) 🏅 Warsaw, IN | — | — | 23 (166.2516) | — | — |