The one to beat
2×
one call ahead of them
Two Blind Pigs has finished one call ahead of The Bacon and Hockey Podcast 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
The Bacon and Hockey Podcast
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1475
peak 1475 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
4
in the data
First seen
2022-08-20
latest 2025-09-05
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 4 contests
Avg finish
top 83%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
286.79
last 4 Backyard vs avg 286.79 (+0.00)
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±18.92
std dev of Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 143.57 · weakest Pork Ribs (143.22)
Road miles
2
mi across 3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
6%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1508)
Purse competed for
$2K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
Backyard avg
286.79 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Storylines (3 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.
A tough matchup
4–0
behind in the head-to-head
I'd Smoke That ahead in 100% of their meetings
I'd Smoke That has come out ahead in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
The comeback
2 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 2 years, then back at Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2024-08-24).
- last seen 2022-08-20
- back 2024-08-24
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.
The Bacon and Hockey Podcast has 3 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 149 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.
#4386 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4379 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2022.
⚔ Head-to-head#4394 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
Level with The Bacon and Hockey Podcast on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4387 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 29%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 7 contests to 4.
⚔ Head-to-head#4388 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4357 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 4, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.5944 | 126.2972 | 143.57 | top 80% |
| Pork Ribs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 156.5372 | 130.7656 | 143.22 | top 80% |
| Pork | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
| Brisket | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
“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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 3 | 0 | top 78% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 98% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 4 | 21 | 0 | top 83% | 2025-09-05 |
The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
3 yrs
2022-08-20 → 2025-09-05
Busiest season
—
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 4 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
IL
4 of 4 contests
Contests visited
1
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
4 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 143.57 · weakest Pork Ribs (143.22)
Walk rate
0%
a top-10 call in 0 of 4 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 4 contests
Backyard average
286.79
out of 360 · 4 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
98
26–124 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
2
3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1508
average field rating faced — tougher than 6% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$2,340
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
Longest layoff
2 yrs
2022-08-20 → 2024-08-24
Power rating
1475
peak 1475 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- First tracked contest Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2022
- Peak power rating (1485) Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2025
- Career-best overall score317.1316 Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)160.5944 Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Most recent contest Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +0.5 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2025-09-05 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -15.5 | Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2022-08-20 |
| -10.1 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2024-08-24 |
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)
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 92% | 76% | 76% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 55% | 88.1% | 88.1% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 86% | 80% | 80% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 98% | 74.6% | 74.6% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-05 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 21 / 38 (317.1316) | 20 (160.5944) | 21 (156.5372) | — | — |
| 2024-08-24 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 31 / 36 (287.9772) | 32 (144.5944) | 32 (143.3828) | — | — |
| 2022-08-20 | Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 40 / 41 (268.4916) | 41 (126.2972) | 35 (142.1944) | — | — |
| Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 36 / 39 (273.5540) | 31 (142.7884) | 35 (130.7656) | — | — |