The heartbreaker
0.6172
points from the title
Came within 0.6172 points of the Grand Championship at Cowchip BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Day 2 (Aug 24, 2024).
I'll Tell You Later BBQ
I'll Tell You Later BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 8 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2023 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 2 at the Cowchip BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Day 2 (2024), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once. They are ranked #3788 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1488
peak 1488 · rated over 8 contests
Contests
8
in the data
First seen
Aug 18, 2023
latest Sep 12, 2025 · 2.1 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
1 reserve
Category wins
2
4 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
25% of 8 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 66%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
670.98 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 665.85 (+5.13)
Walk rate
38%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±15.46
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 168.46 · weakest Chicken (165.12)
Road miles
2,236
across 8 mapped stops · furthest 387 mi
Schedule strength
39%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1552)
Purse competed for
$154K
listed at 8 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 7 state-championship entries
Master avg
665.85 / 720
7 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
342.25 / 360
1 Backyard contest · 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 ↗ | Master | #875 (120 pts) | #910 (135 pts) | #1020 (120 pts) | #882 (140 pts) | #882 (135 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #206 (227 pts) | #201 (252 pts) | #216 (227 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #754 (180 pts) | #853 (165 pts) | #829 (190 pts) | #752 (205 pts) | #551 (350 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #1255 (60 pts) | #1319 (60 pts) | #1432 (60 pts) | #1287 (60 pts) | #1249 (70 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to I'll Tell You Later BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
119 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,776 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1488
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#3,796 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1487
Careers of much the same size, 8 contests to 8, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,770 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 25%
- Peak
- 1514
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before I'll Tell You Later BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,773 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 25%
- Peak
- 1501
Level with I'll Tell You Later BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,800 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1509
They were already cooking in 2013, 10 years before I'll Tell You Later BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#3,767 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 11%
- Peak
- 1501
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 8 years before I'll Tell You Later 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LA PASADITA | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| Texas Revolution | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 170.8460 | 154.8456 | 165.12 | top 68% |
| Pork Ribs | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 171.9884 | 155.9544 | 166.04 | top 67% |
| Pork | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 180 🔥 | 156.5600 | 168.46 | top 53% |
| Brisket | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 178.8572 | 161.6916 | 167.82 | top 39% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 80% |
| Large (40+) | 5 | 0 | top 53% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff | 2 | 39 | 0 | top 60% | Sep 12, 2025 |
| Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships | 2 | 10 | 0 | top 48% | Aug 16, 2024 |
| Smokin' Saddles Double Header (Day 2) | 2 | 15 | 0 | top 80% | Jul 27, 2024 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2024
5 contests
Contests a season
2.7
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
TX
5 of 8 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
5
3 of them more than once
Opponents faced
245
finished ahead 143 times, behind 194
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff
20249 milestones
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score670.1484 Smokin' Saddles Double Header (Day 1)
- First call Smokin' Saddles Double Header (Day 2)
- First category win (Pork) Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships
- First overall top-10 Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships
- First perfect 180 (Pork) Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships
- Career-best overall score685.6112 Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships
- Peak power rating (1496) Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships
- First overall podium Cowchip BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Day 2
- First Reserve Championship Cowchip BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Day 2
20231 milestone
- First tracked contest Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +10.6 | Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships | Aug 16, 2024 |
| +2.4 | Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championship | Aug 15, 2025 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -8.3 | Cowchip BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Day 2 | Aug 24, 2024 |
| -6.5 | Smokin' Saddles Double Header (Day 1) | Jul 26, 2024 |
| -5.3 | Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships | Aug 18, 2023 |
| -2.9 | Smokin' Saddles Double Header (Day 2) | Jul 27, 2024 |
| -1.8 | Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff | Sep 12, 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 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 56% | 92.4% | 91.8% |
| 2024 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 60% | top 69% | 95.2% | 94.1% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 71% | 88.3% | 88.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12, 2025 | Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff 🏅 Waller, TX | 57 / 92 (657.0284) | 87 (154.8456) | 72 (161.6572) | 21 (173.1200) | 30 (167.4056) |
| Aug 15, 2025 | Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championship 🏅 Lubbock, TX | 28 / 55 (664.9592) | 22 (170.8228) | 30 (167.3712) | 37 (161.0740) | 22 (165.6912) |
| Sep 13, 2024 | Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff 🏅 Waller, TX | 39 / 67 (664.5256) | 38 (166.8572) | 29 (170.2856) | 44 (164.5256) | 37 (162.8572) |
| Aug 24, 2024 | Cowchip BBQ Cookoff (BACKYARD ONLY) Day 2 Beaver, OK | 2 / 2 (342.2512) | 1 (170.2628) | 2 (171.9884) | — | — |
| Aug 16, 2024 | Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships 🏅 Lubbock, TX | 10 / 41 (685.6112) | 25 (164.5256) | 13 (169.6800) | 1 (180) | 10 (171.4056) |
| Jul 27, 2024 | Smokin' Saddles Double Header (Day 2) 🏅 Dodge City, KS | 15 / 20 (682.7776) | 15 (170.8460) | 15 (163.3828) | 15 (169.6916) | 2 (178.8572) |
| Jul 26, 2024 | Smokin' Saddles Double Header (Day 1) 🏅 Dodge City, KS | 17 / 20 (670.1484) | 20 (161.0972) | 15 (167.9656) | 12 (174.2628) | 13 (166.8228) |
| Aug 18, 2023 | Raider Red Meats BBQ & Ribeye Championships 🏅 Lubbock, TX | 34 / 48 (635.9088) | 32 (161.7028) | 38 (155.9544) | 38 (156.5600) | 23 (161.6916) |