They almost always walk
60%
of contests with a top-10 call
A call in 6 of 10 contests
A top-10 category call in 60% of their 10 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.
RIVER RATS
RIVER RATS is a competition barbecue team with 10 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2013 and 2024. Their best overall finish is 7th of 8 at the Roast N Boast (2022). They are ranked #5010 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings. Also listed in KCBS results as “RIVERRATS”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1463
peak 1500 · rated over 9 contests
Contests
10
in the data
First seen
Aug 23, 2013
latest Oct 18, 2024 · 11.2 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
2 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
20% of 10 contests
Avg finish
top 77%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
644.56
last 5 Master vs avg 644.50 (+0.05)
Walk rate
60%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±27.32
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 163.53 · weakest Pork (158.37)
Road miles
943
across 10 mapped stops · furthest 468 mi
Schedule strength
46%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1560)
Purse competed for
$34K
listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 6 state-championship entries
Master avg
644.50 / 720
9 Master contests · 0 GCs
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to RIVER RATS, each with one reason worth a look.
129 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#4,995 of the rated field
- Contests
- 33
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 24%
- Peak
- 1515
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to RIVER RATS)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team RIVER RATS has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#5,014 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 11%
- Peak
- 1462
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#4,998 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 11%
- Peak
- 1463
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 3 years before RIVER RATS's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#5,020 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1462
Careers of much the same size, 9 contests to 10, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#5,026 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 10%
- Peak
- 1462
They turned up 6 years after RIVER RATS did, first appearing in 2019.
⚔ Compare careers#5,028 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1462
Level with RIVER RATS 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Misfits of Smoke | 8 | 6 | 2 | 75% | ⚔ compare |
| BEER-B-QUE BOYS | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14% | ⚔ compare |
| HOGG UGLY | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| Country Hoggs | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| RIBLIFE | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 173.7028 | 150.2628 | 161.11 | top 74% |
| Pork Ribs | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 172.5600 | 148.5372 | 163.53 | top 67% |
| Pork | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 170.8344 | 140.5028 | 158.37 | top 80% |
| Brisket | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 179.4400 | 137.0516 | 161.49 | top 64% |
“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) | 4 | 0 | top 89% |
| Medium (20–39) | 5 | 0 | top 68% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roast N Boast | 8 | 7 | 0 | top 74% | Oct 18, 2024 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2015
2 contests
Contests a season
1.1
across 9 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
MS
9 of 10 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
2
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
191
finished ahead 68 times, behind 221
Longest layoff
4 yrs
Oct 2, 2015 → Oct 4, 2019
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20242 milestones
- 10th tracked contest Roast N Boast
- Most recent contest Roast N Boast
20152 milestones
- First overall top-10 Roast N' Boast
- Career-best overall score677.6228 Roast N' Boast
20136 milestones
- First tracked contest Roast n' Boast
- First call Roast n' Boast
- First category win (Brisket) Roast n' Boast
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score667.8740 Roast n' Boast
- Career-best single call (Brisket)179.4400 Roast n' Boast
- Peak power rating (1500) Roast n' Boast
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +10.8 | Roast N' Boast | Oct 2, 2015 |
| +4.6 | Roast N Boast | Oct 28, 2022 |
| +0.3 | Roast n' Boast | Aug 23, 2013 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.8 | Okfuskee Firefighters Wildfire Cookoff | Jun 5, 2015 |
| -10.8 | Roast N Boast | Oct 18, 2024 |
| -9.2 | Roast-N-Boast | Oct 9, 2020 |
| -8.9 | Roast N Boast | Oct 4, 2019 |
| -7.7 | Roast-N-Boast | Aug 27, 2021 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 93% | 88.6% | 88.6% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 100% | 88.5% | 88.5% |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 88% | 90% | 90% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 74% | 91.4% | 91.4% |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 86% | 89% | 89% |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 76% | 91.1% | 91.1% |
| 2015 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 62% | 94.1% | 87.1% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | — | — |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100% | top 52% | 92.8% | 92.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 2024 | Roast N Boast 🏅 Columbus, MS | 14 / 15 (638.2060) | 13 (163.4400) | 15 (154.8116) | 14 (166.2744) | 14 (153.6800) |
| Oct 20, 2023 | Roast N Boast 🏅 Columbus, MS | 12 / 12 (637.5084) | 12 (155.3828) | 12 (162.2400) | 12 (150.2056) | 9 (169.6800) |
| Oct 28, 2022 | Roast N Boast 🏅 Columbus, MS | 7 / 8 (647.8400) | 3 (173.7028) | 6 (165.0972) | 8 (148.5144) | 6 (160.5256) |
| Aug 27, 2021 | Roast-N-Boast 🏅 Columbus, MS | 14 / 19 (658.2288) | 14 (164) | 7 (172.5600) | 8 (170.8344) | 18 (150.8344) |
| Oct 9, 2020 | Roast-N-Boast 🏅 Columbus, MS | 31 / 36 (640.9944) | 32 (151.3256) | 29 (158.8344) | 29 (164.5944) | 23 (166.2400) |
| Oct 4, 2019 | Roast N Boast 🏅 Columbus, MS | 19 / 25 (655.8972) | 19 (160.5372) | 17 (166.8344) | 20 (160.5600) | 8 (167.9656) |
| Oct 2, 2015 | Roast N' Boast Columbus, MS | 7 / 26 (677.6228) | 8 (169.1200) | 9 (172) | 8 (168.5256) | 12 (167.9772) |
| Jun 5, 2015 | Okfuskee Firefighters Wildfire Cookoff Okemah, OK | 29 / 30 (576.3544) | 24 (150.2628) | 26 (148.5372) | 30 (140.5028) | 29 (137.0516) |
| Oct 17, 2014 | Roast N' Boast Columbus, MS | — | — | — | — | — |
| Aug 23, 2013 | Roast n' Boast Columbus, MS | 14 / 27 (667.8740) | 24 (162.2400) | 6 (170.8456) | 26 (155.3484) | 1 (179.4400) |