A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
Gold’s BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
Gold’s BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Barba Q
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1465
peak 1465 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
2024-09-21
latest 2026-04-11
Best ToY finish
#1087
Master 2024
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 93%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
630.93
last 3 Master vs avg 630.93 (+0.00)
Walk rate
20%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±16.02
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 165.11 · weakest Brisket (153.70)
Road miles
184
mi across 5 mapped stops
Schedule strength
28%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1538)
Master avg
630.93 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (1 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.
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.
Barba Q 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 135 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.
#4848 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Head-to-head#4869 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2016, 8 years before Barba Q's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#4862 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 5 years before Barba Q's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4849 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
Level with Barba Q on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4857 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1502
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1502 at their best, 36 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4868 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1465
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 7 years before Barba Q's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.4400 | 162.2168 | 165.11 | top 79% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160.5944 | 149.6572 | 156.44 | top 89% |
| Pork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 155.9428 | 154.2400 | 154.82 | top 95% |
| Brisket | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 165.1316 | 138.2744 | 153.70 | top 81% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 89% |
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 95% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 95% |
The story so far (13 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
1.6 yrs
2024-09-21 → 2026-04-11
Busiest season
2025
2 contests
Contests a season
1.7
across 3 seasons in the data
Contests visited
3
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
5 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 165.11 · weakest Brisket (153.70)
Walk rate
20%
a top-10 call in 1 of 5 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 5 contests
Master average
630.93
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
56
5–73 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
184
5 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1538
average field rating faced — tougher than 28% of rated contests
Power rating
1465
peak 1465 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2024
- First tracked contest "Smokin' Ribs Showdown" (ONE MEAT RIBS) #1
- First call Fo.G & Smoke 2024
- Career-best overall score646.7772 Fo.G & Smoke 2024
- Career-best single call (Chicken)167.4400 Fo.G & Smoke 2024
- Peak power rating (1490) Fo.G & Smoke 2024
- 2026
- Most recent contest BBQ Expo Master's Challenge
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.4 | BBQ Expo Master's Challenge | 2026-04-11 |
| -12 | The War of Barbeque | 2025-06-14 |
| -10.4 | Fo.G & Smoke 2024 | 2024-09-21 |
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)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 84.6% | 84.6% |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 95% | 88.5% | 88.5% |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50% | top 89% | 89.8% | 89.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-11 | BBQ Expo Master's Challenge PARMA, 43126 | 40 / 42 (608.9828) | 37 (162.2168) | 37 (154.2516) | 38 (154.2400) | 42 (138.2744) |
| 2025-06-14 | The War of Barbeque Peschiera del Garda, 37019 | 19 / 20 (637.0284) | 18 (165.6684) | 19 (159.4172) | 20 (154.2628) | 18 (157.6800) |
| 2025-06-14 | The War of Barbeque (ONE MEAT RIBS) Peschiera del Garda, 37019 | — | — | 28 (149.6572) | — | — |
| 2024-09-21 | Fo.G & Smoke 2024 Providence of MODENA (MO), | 17 / 19 (646.7772) | 11 (167.4400) | 18 (158.2628) | 18 (155.9428) | 10 (165.1316) |
| 2024-04-06 | "Smokin' Ribs Showdown" (ONE MEAT RIBS) #1 Brescia, 25125 | — | — | 20 (160.5944) | — | — |
Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)
Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #1093 (75 pts) | #1147 (80 pts) | #990 (128 pts) | #1148 (70 pts) | #1107 (80 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1087 (84 pts) | #1042 (114 pts) | #1249 (79 pts) | #1155 (79 pts) | #972 (119 pts) |