Giant slayer
32
teams beaten in one weekend
Took the Grand Championship over a 32-team field at Smokin in Steele.
- May 31, 2024
Smokin Gopher
Smokin Gopher is a competition barbecue team with 7 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2014 and 2025. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the Smokin in Steele (2024). They are ranked #2292 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1527
peak 1529 · rated over 7 contests
Contests
7
in the data
First seen
Aug 29, 2014
latest May 30, 2025 · 10.8 years on the trail
Grand champs
1
0 reserve · wins it all 14% of the time
Category wins
1
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
29% of 7 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 45%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
71%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±14.36
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 168.81 · weakest Pork (157.55)
Road miles
137
across 7 mapped stops · furthest 135 mi
Schedule strength
55%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1571)
Purse competed for
$20K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
1 🏅
won from 3 state-championship entries
Master avg
647.93 / 720
4 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
336.39 / 360
3 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)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 ↗ | Backyard | — | #229 (168 pts) | #301 (103 pts) | — | — |
| 2018 ↗ | Master | #1765 (100 pts) | #1418 (165 pts) | #1498 (145 pts) | #2030 (60 pts) | #1727 (115 pts) |
| 2017 ↗ | Master | #2127 (74 pts) | #2003 (109 pts) | #2294 (64 pts) | #2883 (54 pts) | #2098 (89 pts) |
| 2015 ↗ | Master | #1871 (112 pts) | #1601 (157 pts) | #1888 (117 pts) | #2163 (72 pts) | #1892 (117 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Smokin Gopher, each with one reason worth a look.
65 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,298 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 29%
- Peak
- 1527
Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 7, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,278 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 29%
- Peak
- 1529
They turned up 7 years after Smokin Gopher did, first appearing in 2021.
⚔ Compare careers#2,294 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1527
Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 8 years before Smokin Gopher's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,299 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 18%
- Peak
- 1529
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#2,279 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 2
- Top-10s
- 60%
- Peak
- 1528
Their rating is built on 2 Grand Championships in 5 contests, alongside a 60% overall top-10 rate.
⚔ Compare careers#2,302 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 60%
- Peak
- 1533
Level with Smokin Gopher 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIG CHAIN BBQ GANG | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 173.1200 | 162.8800 | 168.81 | top 33% |
| Pork Ribs | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 173.1772 | 150.8116 | 164.81 | top 43% |
| Pork | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 148.5028 | 157.55 | top 71% |
| Brisket | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.2972 | 148.5488 | 158.84 | top 61% |
“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
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smokin' in Steele | 3 | 1 | 1 | top 29% | May 30, 2025 |
More numbers
Contests a season
1
across 7 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
WI
4 of 7 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
5
1 of them more than once
First title
May 31, 2024
Smokin in Steele
Opponents faced
150
finished ahead 140 times, behind 105
Longest layoff
4.8 yrs
Aug 31, 2018 → Jun 2, 2023
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20251 milestone
- Most recent contest Smokin' in Steele
20247 milestones
- First category win (Chicken) Smokin in Steele
- First overall podium Smokin in Steele
- First Grand Championship Smokin in Steele
- First state championship Smokin in Steele
- Biggest field won (32 teams) Smokin in Steele
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)173.1772 Smokin in Steele
- Peak power rating (1529) Smokin in Steele
20231 milestone
- First overall top-10 Smokin in Steele
20151 milestone
- Career-best overall score662.2400 5th Annual Smokin In the Bogs
20143 milestones
- First tracked contest 4th Annual Smokin In the Bogs
- First call 4th Annual Smokin In the Bogs
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score657.6576 4th Annual Smokin In the Bogs
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +18.5 | Smokin in Steele | May 31, 2024 |
| +7.6 | Smokin in Steele | Jun 2, 2023 |
| +3.4 | 5th Annual Smokin In the Bogs | Sep 4, 2015 |
| +2.7 | 4th Annual Smokin In the Bogs | Aug 29, 2014 |
| +1.3 | Smokin in the Bogs | Aug 31, 2018 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -4.4 | 7th Annual Smokin' In The Bogs | Sep 1, 2017 |
| -1.8 | Smokin' in Steele | May 30, 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 57% | 90.8% | 90.8% |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 3% | 96.2% | 96.2% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 28% | 93.3% | 93.3% |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 60% | 89.8% | 89.8% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 72% | 86.8% | 86.8% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 48% | 92% | 92% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 47% | 91.3% | 91.3% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 2025 | Smokin' in Steele 🏅 Owatonna, MN | 16 / 28 (326.8572) | 17 (162.8800) | 18 (163.9772) | — | — |
| May 31, 2024 | Smokin in Steele 🏅 Owatonna, MN | 1 / 32 (346.2972) | 1 (173.1200) | 3 (173.1772) | — | — |
| Jun 2, 2023 | Smokin in Steele 🏅 Owatonna, MN | 8 / 29 (336.0116) | 5 (172.0116) | 13 (164) | — | — |
| Aug 31, 2018 | Smokin in the Bogs Warrens, WI | 15 / 25 (646.8116) | 6 (169.7372) | 8 (165.7032) | 23 (150.2856) | 12 (161.0856) |
| Sep 1, 2017 | 7th Annual Smokin' In The Bogs Warrens, WI | 21 / 29 (625.0288) | 14 (166.2972) | 23 (150.8116) | 26 (148.5028) | 18 (159.4172) |
| Sep 4, 2015 | 5th Annual Smokin In the Bogs Warrens, WI | 13 / 27 (662.2400) | 7 (173.1200) | 12 (163.4056) | 21 (159.4172) | 12 (166.2972) |
| Aug 29, 2014 | 4th Annual Smokin In the Bogs Warrens, WI | 16 / 34 (657.6576) | 17 (164.5372) | 9 (172.5716) | 8 (172) | 30 (148.5488) |