A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
Ishy Links BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
Ishy Links BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Briar Ridge BBQ
Briar Ridge BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2023 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 14th of 32 at the Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) (2023). They finished #346 in the 2024 Backyard Series Team of the Year standings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1499
Unranked — needs 5 rated contests, has 3
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Aug 19, 2023
latest Jun 27, 2025 · 1.9 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
0% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 58%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±3.03
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 164.08 · weakest Chicken (163.78)
Road miles
70
across 5 mapped stops
Schedule strength
49%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1563)
Purse competed for
$17K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Backyard avg
326.04 / 360
3 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
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 Briar Ridge BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
Briar Ridge BBQ has 3 rated contests, short of the five a power ranking needs, so its rating is still close to the 1500 every team starts on and 114 rated teams sit within a point of it.
#3,251 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1504
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,220 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1500
Level with Briar Ridge BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#3,228 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,219 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1507
They were already cooking in 2013, 10 years before Briar Ridge BBQ's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#3,252 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 11%
- Peak
- 1504
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 3 years before Briar Ridge BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,224 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1500
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before Briar Ridge 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 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.1544 | 162.8228 | 163.78 | top 61% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 169.6916 | 159.9772 | 164.08 | 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.
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 14 | 0 | top 56% | Aug 17, 2024 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2024
3 contests
Contests a season
1.7
across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
5 of 5 contests
Contests visited
2
1 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
5 entries · 0 wins · 1 call
Opponents faced
77
finished ahead 42 times, behind 60
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown
20243 milestones
- Career-best overall score330.2744 Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First call Rib Double Dip (1) (ONE MEAT RIBS)
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)169.6916 Rib Double Dip (1) (ONE MEAT RIBS)
20233 milestones
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score324.5028 Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1504) Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +3.6 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 19, 2023 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -3.8 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 17, 2024 |
| -0.4 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown | Jun 27, 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 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 62% | 89.8% | 89.8% |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33% | top 69% | 91.7% | 91.7% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 44% | 90.1% | 90.1% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 27, 2025 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Eureka, IL | 16 / 26 (323.3484) | 14 (163.3712) | 17 (159.9772) | — | — |
| Sep 1, 2024 | Rib Double Dip (1) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 10 (169.6916) | — | — |
| Sep 1, 2024 | Rib Double Dip (2) (ONE MEAT RIBS) Chillicothe, IL | — | — | 17 (163.9544) | — | — |
| Aug 17, 2024 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 18 / 26 (330.2744) | 19 (165.1544) | 15 (165.1200) | — | — |
| Aug 19, 2023 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 14 / 32 (324.5028) | 18 (162.8228) | 12 (161.6800) | — | — |