They almost always walk
70%
of contests with a top-10 call
A call in 7 of 10 contests
A top-10 category call in 70% of their 10 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.
Bucking Knockout
Bucking Knockout is a competition barbecue team with 10 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2024 and 2025. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the Saucy and Glazed (2024). They are ranked #2314 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1526
peak 1542 · rated over 8 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted
Contests
10
in the data
First seen
May 17, 2024
latest Jun 13, 2025 · 1.1 years on the trail
Grand champs
1
0 reserve · wins it all 10% of the time
Category wins
2
3 podiums
Overall top-10s
5
50% of 10 contests
Best top-10 run
5
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 48%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
339.98
last 5 Backyard vs avg 339.70 (+0.28)
Walk rate
70%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±8.93
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 172.34 · weakest Brisket (160.41)
Road miles
1,786
across 10 mapped stops · furthest 582 mi
Schedule strength
54%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1569)
Purse competed for
$85K
listed at 8 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
1 🏅
won from 6 state-championship entries
Master avg
665.11 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
339.70 / 360
6 Backyard contests · 1 GC
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360), 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 Bucking Knockout, each with one reason worth a look.
70 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,310 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1531
1–1 in 2 shared contests (50% to Bucking Knockout)
2 contests in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Bucking Knockout has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,313 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 25%
- Peak
- 1526
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#2,320 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1526
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 6 years before Bucking Knockout's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,316 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 25%
- Peak
- 1526
Careers of much the same size, 8 contests to 10, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,321 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 50%
- Peak
- 1526
3 straight overall top-10s says this rating is a moving target.
⚔ Compare careers#2,312 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 36%
- Peak
- 1526
Level with Bucking Knockout on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOOD HOOK BBQ | 8 | 2 | 6 | 25% | ⚔ compare |
| MUNNY'S STOVE | 7 | 2 | 5 | 29% | ⚔ compare |
| Damn Fine Beef & Swine | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| MAN MEAT BBQ | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 176 | 161.0856 | 168.33 | top 49% |
| Pork Ribs | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 177.7144 | 154.2516 | 172.34 | top 25% |
| Pork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171.4172 | 155.9772 | 162.57 | top 80% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 169.1200 | 153.1200 | 160.41 | 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 field size and state
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 2 | 1 | top 33% |
| Medium (20–39) | 5 | 0 | top 44% |
| Large (40+) | 3 | 0 | top 66% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Sunday, May 25, 2025) | 2 | 33 | 0 | top 73% | May 25, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
6 contests
Contests a season
5
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
KS
5 of 10 contests · 4 states in all
Contests visited
9
1 of them more than once
First title
Jul 12, 2024
Saucy and Glazed
Opponents faced
345
finished ahead 202 times, behind 331
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20254 milestones
- Peak power rating (1542) American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest
- Career-best overall score680.0232 Smoke in the Spring
- 10th tracked contest Smoke on the Plains BBQ & Music Fest
- Most recent contest Smoke on the Plains BBQ & Music Fest
20249 milestones
- First tracked contest RTrowbridge Memorial Cook Flyin (BACKYARD)
- First call RTrowbridge Memorial Cook Flyin (BACKYARD)
- First overall top-10 RTrowbridge Memorial Cook Flyin (BACKYARD)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score338.2744 RTrowbridge Memorial Cook Flyin (BACKYARD)
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Saucy and Glazed
- First overall podium Saucy and Glazed
- First Grand Championship Saucy and Glazed
- First state championship Saucy and Glazed
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)177.7144 Cherokee Strip BBQ & Chili Cook-Off
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +17.3 | Saucy and Glazed | Jul 12, 2024 |
| +11.8 | Cherokee Strip BBQ & Chili Cook-Off | Sep 20, 2024 |
| +7.1 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest | Mar 21, 2025 |
| +5.3 | Smokin on the Route | Jul 26, 2024 |
| +0.5 | RTrowbridge Memorial Cook Flyin (BACKYARD) | May 17, 2024 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -8.3 | Smoke on the Plains BBQ & Music Fest | Jun 13, 2025 |
| -7.2 | Tom Brigham Memorial BBQ | May 16, 2025 |
| -0.3 | Smoke in the Spring | Apr 11, 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 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 63% | 96% | 93.3% |
| 2024 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 100% | top 27% | 96.3% | 93.9% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 13, 2025 | Smoke on the Plains BBQ & Music Fest 🏅 Derby, KS | 24 / 36 (675.9656) | 17 (170.2628) | 10 (171.9884) | 29 (164.5944) | 22 (169.1200) |
| May 25, 2025 | 7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Sunday, May 25, 2025) unrated Lebanon, TN | 33 / 70 (339.9544) | 39 (165.0972) | 12 (174.8572) | — | — |
| May 24, 2025 | 7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Saturday, May 24, 2025) unrated Lebanon, TN | 105 / 106 (653.1088) | 27 (176) | 84 (168.0116) | 106 (155.9772) | 106 (153.1200) |
| May 16, 2025 | Tom Brigham Memorial BBQ 🏅 Iola, KS | 22 / 27 (651.3600) | 25 (161.0856) | 4 (176.5944) | 26 (158.2972) | 24 (155.3828) |
| Apr 11, 2025 | Smoke in the Spring 🏅 Osage City, KS | 48 / 92 (680.0232) | 58 (168.5828) | 13 (176.0116) | 40 (171.4172) | 67 (164.0116) |
| Mar 21, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest Kansas City, MO | 10 / 33 (345.7256) | 16 (168.5712) | 4 (177.1544) | — | — |
| Sep 20, 2024 | Cherokee Strip BBQ & Chili Cook-Off 🏅 Ponca City, OK | 3 / 26 (346.8228) | 7 (169.1084) | 1 (177.7144) | — | — |
| Jul 26, 2024 | Smokin on the Route 🏅 Miami, OK | 8 / 27 (321.1088) | 6 (166.8572) | 8 (154.2516) | — | — |
| Jul 12, 2024 | Saucy and Glazed 🏅 Newton, KS | 1 / 12 (346.2856) | 3 (172) | 1 (174.2856) | — | — |
| May 17, 2024 | RTrowbridge Memorial Cook Flyin (BACKYARD) Derby, KS | 8 / 14 (338.2744) | 12 (165.7144) | 6 (172.5600) | — | — |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.