High-water mark
687.9316
career-best overall
95.5% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 687.9316 at Smoke in the North (Day 1) — 95.5% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Aug 21, 2026
NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM
NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM is a competition barbecue team with 7 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2020 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 7th of 28 at the Smoke in the North (Day 1) (2026). They are ranked #3968 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1484
peak 1484 · rated over 7 contests
Contests
7
in the data
First seen
Aug 15, 2020
latest Aug 22, 2026 · 6 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podium
Overall top-10s
2
29% of 7 contests
Avg finish
top 64%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
656.69 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 651.02 (+5.67)
Walk rate
57%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±19.56
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 166.18 · weakest Brisket (160.63)
Road miles
931
across 7 mapped stops
Schedule strength
16%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1523)
Master avg
651.02 / 720
7 Master contests · 0 GCs
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #561 (269 pts) | #582 (294 pts) | #582 (329 pts) | #748 (159 pts) | #624 (239 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #1018 (96 pts) | #1457 (56 pts) | #1233 (81 pts) | #1013 (111 pts) | #916 (121 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1147 (68 pts) | #1182 (78 pts) | #1183 (93 pts) | #1199 (68 pts) | #1130 (78 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #741 (196 pts) | #795 (201 pts) | #622 (341 pts) | #775 (191 pts) | #798 (191 pts) |
| 2020 ↗ | Master | #733 (114 pts) | #658 (134 pts) | #783 (109 pts) | #541 (189 pts) | #677 (124 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM, each with one reason worth a look.
149 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,971 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 27%
- Peak
- 1517
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,985 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 11%
- Peak
- 1501
Careers of much the same size, 9 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,987 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 14%
- Peak
- 1511
Level with NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,978 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1484
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,962 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1484
They were already cooking in 2013, 7 years before NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#3,988 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1509
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before NO BRAINER BBQ TEAM'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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Badboy Butchers BBQ | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Kott & Blod BBQ | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| AlltimeBBQ | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60% | ⚔ compare |
| SMOKING ACES BBQ SWEDEN | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| Clean Smoke BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| Lingon & Dill | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 175.4056 | 146.8456 | 161.53 | top 65% |
| Pork Ribs | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 176.5716 | 159.3712 | 166.18 | top 49% |
| Pork | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 172.5600 | 155.4172 | 162.68 | top 67% |
| Brisket | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 170.8344 | 149.6912 | 160.63 | top 62% |
“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 79% |
| Medium (20–39) | 5 | 0 | top 59% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke in the North (Day 2) | 2 | 7 | 0 | top 38% | Aug 22, 2026 |
| Smoke in the North | 2 | 17 | 0 | top 73% | Aug 22, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2026
2 contests
Contests a season
1.4
across 5 seasons in the data
Contests visited
5
2 of them more than once
Opponents faced
72
finished ahead 62 times, behind 89
Longest layoff
3 yrs
Aug 15, 2020 → Aug 18, 2023
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20263 milestones
- Career-best overall score687.9316 Smoke in the North (Day 1)
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)176.5716 Smoke in the North (Day 1)
- Most recent contest Smoke in the North (Day 2)
20205 milestones
- First tracked contest Slow Joe's Barn Burner
- First call Slow Joe's Barn Burner
- First overall top-10 Slow Joe's Barn Burner
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score650.8456 Slow Joe's Barn Burner
- Peak power rating (1494) Slow Joe's Barn Burner
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +11.1 | Smoke in the North (Day 1) | Aug 21, 2026 |
| +2.8 | Smoke in the North (Day 2) | Aug 22, 2026 |
| +1.2 | Smoke in the North | Aug 22, 2025 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -10.9 | Smoke in the North | Aug 23, 2024 |
| -10.3 | BBQ Festival Vanamoisa | Aug 18, 2023 |
| -5.7 | Slow Joe's Barn Burner | Aug 15, 2020 |
| -4.6 | Smoke in the North Edition Q in the Swamp | Aug 26, 2023 |
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 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 38% | 95.5% | 94.1% |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 55% | 89.2% | 89.2% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 91% | 88.5% | 88.5% |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 79% | 90.2% | 88.4% |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 71% | 90.4% | 90.4% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2026 | Smoke in the North (Day 2) Boras | 13 / 26 (666.6856) | 17 (167.9656) | 15 (165.0972) | 18 (166.2400) | 13 (167.3828) |
| Aug 21, 2026 | Smoke in the North (Day 1) Boras | 7 / 28 (687.9316) | 4 (175.4056) | 3 (176.5716) | 21 (165.1200) | 10 (170.8344) |
| Aug 22, 2025 | Smoke in the North Rolfstorp | 17 / 31 (642.1596) | 25 (154.8572) | 20 (159.3712) | 14 (165.1084) | 12 (162.8228) |
| Aug 23, 2024 | Smoke in the North Rolfstorp | 21 / 23 (637.0168) | 19 (159.9428) | 16 (161.6684) | 21 (157.7028) | 19 (157.7028) |
| Aug 26, 2023 | Smoke in the North Edition Q in the Swamp Rolfstorp | 15 / 21 (649.6568) | 13 (163.4400) | 7 (171.4056) | 18 (155.4172) | 16 (159.3940) |
| Aug 18, 2023 | BBQ Festival Vanamoisa Saue Parish | 13 / 15 (622.8340) | 14 (146.8456) | 4 (169.7144) | 11 (156.5828) | 13 (149.6912) |
| Aug 15, 2020 | Slow Joe's Barn Burner Vedum | 10 / 14 (650.8456) | 8 (162.2744) | 11 (159.4400) | 4 (172.5600) | 9 (156.5712) |