Their season
2021
their best year
2021 was the year it came together: 4 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 40%.
- 4 contests
- 2 overall top-10s
- 0 category wins
- average top 40%
Smokey and The Bandits
Smokey and The Bandits is a competition barbecue team with 13 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 4th of 40 at the Westland Area Jaycees All American BBQ Throwdown (2019). They are ranked #3536 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1492
peak 1519 · rated over 7 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted
Contests
13
in the data
First seen
Feb 5, 2016
latest Sep 5, 2025 · 9.6 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
4
31% of 13 contests
Best top-10 run
3
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 61%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
46%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±21.42
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 155.13 · weakest Pork Ribs (151.13)
Road miles
11,000
across 11 mapped stops · furthest 9,616 mi
Schedule strength
34%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1545)
Purse competed for
$33K
listed at 6 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 4 state-championship entries
Master avg
597.82 / 720
2 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
308.43 / 360
5 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (4-meat) avg
610.88 / 720
1 Backyard (4-meat) contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360, Backyard (4-meat) out of 720), 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)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Smokey and The Bandits, each with one reason worth a look.
140 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,553 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 71%
- Peak
- 1507
Fewer contests behind them than Smokey and The Bandits has cooked, 7 to 13, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careers#3,551 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1507
Level with Smokey and The Bandits on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,537 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 10%
- Peak
- 1508
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before Smokey and The Bandits's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,560 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1492
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before Smokey and The Bandits's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,511 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1493
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2016.
⚔ Compare careers#3,516 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1514
Fewer contests behind them than Smokey and The Bandits has cooked, 8 to 13, which makes theirs the less settled rating of the two.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 167.4172 | 134.8572 | 155.13 | top 46% |
| Pork Ribs | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 170.8572 | 133.6112 | 151.13 | top 68% |
| Pork | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 155.4516 | 146.1828 | 151.97 | top 52% |
| Brisket | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 161.1428 | 145.6572 | 152.10 | top 63% |
“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) | 2 | 0 | top 65% |
| Medium (20–39) | 6 | 0 | top 77% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 11% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Country BBQ Cook-off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 9 | 0 | top 67% | Jun 9, 2019 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2021
4 contests
Contests a season
1.9
across 7 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
7 of 13 contests · 5 states in all
Contests visited
9
1 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
11 entries · 0 wins · 2 calls
Opponents faced
275
finished ahead 157 times, behind 187
Longest layoff
3.3 yrs
May 6, 2022 → Sep 5, 2025
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
20214 milestones
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)170.8572 Heritage Days BBQ Showdown (Day one)
- 10th tracked contest Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown Day 1
- Peak power rating (1519) Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown Day 1
- Career-best overall score636.9828 Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES)
—4 milestones
- First tracked contest Lake Country BBQ Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First call Lake Country BBQ Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall top-10 Lake Country BBQ Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score326.8232 Lake Country BBQ Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +14.6 | Heritage Days BBQ Showdown (Day one) | Jun 25, 2021 |
| +14.3 | Westland Area Jaycees All American BBQ Throwdown | Aug 2, 2019 |
| +7.7 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown Day 1 | Jul 16, 2021 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -15.7 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) | Sep 5, 2025 |
| -11.7 | Lake Country BBQ Cook-off (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 9, 2019 |
| -10.8 | Route 66 Smoke Out | May 6, 2022 |
| -6.2 | The Yaks Melbourne BBQ Festival | Feb 5, 2016 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 66% | 90.8% | 88.6% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | 76.3% | 76.3% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 94% | 83.2% | 83.2% |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 75% | top 40% | 90.9% | 89.6% |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 48% | 84.8% | 82.9% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 71% | 82.9% | 82.9% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 2025 | Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL | 38 / 38 (274.8572) | 38 (134.8572) | 36 (140) | — | — |
| May 6, 2022 | Route 66 Smoke Out 🏅 Dwight, IL | 31 / 33 (599.0968) | 31 (143.3484) | 25 (157.6572) | 32 (146.1828) | 30 (151.9084) |
| Nov 5, 2021 | Saluting with Smoke (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) unrated Yorkville, IL | 15 / 18 (636.9828) | 8 (164.5372) | 17 (150.2172) | — | — |
| Jul 16, 2021 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown Day 1 🏅 Eureka, IL | 6 / 25 (321.6912) | 6 (158.2628) | 5 (163.4284) | — | — |
| Jul 16, 2021 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown - One Meat Rib Contest Eureka, IL | — | — | 14 (158.8000) | — | — |
| Jun 25, 2021 | Heritage Days BBQ Showdown (Day one) 🏅 Belvidere, IL | 6 / 49 (327.4172) | 15 (156.5600) | 2 (170.8572) | — | — |
| Aug 2, 2019 | Westland Area Jaycees All American BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Westland, MI | 4 / 40 (610.8800) | 6 (152.0228) | 11 (143.4288) | 4 (154.2856) | 3 (161.1428) |
| Jun 9, 2019 | Lake Country BBQ Cook-off (BACKYARD ONLY) | 19 / 22 (291.3484) | 6 (157.7372) | 21 (133.6112) | — | — |
| Jun 9, 2017 | Kentucky's Fort Harrod Beef Festival Grill-Off (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) Harrodsburg, KY | — | — | — | — | 14 (145.6572) |
| Jun 10, 2016 | KY Fort Harrod Beef Festival Grill-off (COMPETITOR'S SERIES) Harrodsburg, KY | — | — | — | — | — |
| Feb 5, 2016 | The Yaks Melbourne BBQ Festival Melbourne, Australia | 24 / 34 (596.5372) | 15 (156.5712) | 32 (134.8228) | 17 (155.4516) | 18 (149.6916) |
| — | Saluting With Smoke (COMPETITORS SERIES) unrated Yorkville, IL | 32 / 38 (466.8116) | 19 (160) | 34 (150.2516) | — | — |
| — | Lake Country BBQ Cook-Off (BACKYARD ONLY) Okauchee, WI | 9 / 19 (326.8232) | 6 (167.4172) | 14 (159.4060) | — | — |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.