NM/SS

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#1682

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1553

peak 1553 · rated over 5 contests ⓘ

Best runs

straight top-10s

Contests

in the data

First seen

2020-08-07

latest 2024-08-30

Best ToY finish

#255

Backyard 2024

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

2 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 5 contests

Avg finish

top 27%

overall standings

Best overall

500.4912 / 360

Backyard · The Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q

Perfect 180s

Current form

400.72

last 5 Backyard vs avg 400.72 (+0.00)

Walk rate

100%

contests with a top-10 call

Top-10 streak

and counting

Best single call

173.7028

Chicken · The Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q

Consistency

±81.03

std dev of Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 168.89 · weakest Pork (159.38)

Road miles

mi across 5 mapped stops · furthest 60 mi

Schedule strength

86%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1617)

Purse competed for

$21K

listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

GCs in 5 state-championship entries

Backyard avg

400.72 / 360

5 Backyard contests · 0 GCs

This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (8 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.

Riding a hot streak

5 straight overall top-10s

Currently on a 5-contest overall top-10 run.

career best 5

High-water mark

500.4912 career-best overall

139.0% of a perfect 360

Their best day on record: 500.4912 at The Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q — 139.0% of a perfect 360.

Backyard
2020-10-29

A tough matchup

4–1 behind in the head-to-head

MUTTLEY CREW BBQ ahead in 80% of their meetings

MUTTLEY CREW BBQ has come out ahead in 4 of their 5 shared contests.

A strong matchup

5–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of ELITE BBQ SMOKERS in 5 of their 5 shared contests.

The comeback

3.8 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 3.8 years, then back at Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival (2024-08-30).

last seen 2020-10-30
back 2024-08-30

Announced themselves early

5th at their very first contest

Finished 5 of 19 at their very first tracked contest, BBQ WYTHE US DAY 1 (2020-08-07).

2020-08-07
19-team field

They cook the hard rooms

1617 average field rating faced

A tougher draw than 86% of rated fields

The fields they enter average a 1617 power rating — a tougher draw than 86% of every rated contest in the data.

5 rated contests

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

Ham Squad has landed one call behind them 2 times.

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.

60 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

Drilling And Grilling

#1677 of the rated field

1553 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 60%
Peak: 1553

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.

rated over 5 contests
last seen 2023-08-25

⚔ Head-to-head

Fire Family BBQ PTY

#1681 of the rated field

1553 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 60%
Peak: 1553

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2026-07-24
on a 5-contest top-10 run

⚔ Head-to-head

NOBLE Q

#1685 of the rated field

1552 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 38%
Peak: 1552

No shared contest yet.

Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 3 years before NM/SS's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 8 contests

⚔ Head-to-head

Dos Smokin Bros

#1678 of the rated field

1553 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 64%
Peak: 1553

No shared contest yet.

Level with NM/SS on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 11 contests
last seen 2020-09-26

⚔ Head-to-head

GRILL OF HIS DREAMS

#1679 of the rated field

1553 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 13
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 8%
Peak: 1553

No shared contest yet.

13 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 8% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 13 contests
last seen 2014-07-25

⚔ Head-to-head

RIB TIP TUESDAY

#1686 of the rated field

1552 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 14
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 21%
Peak: 1552

No shared contest yet.

They were already cooking in 2013, 7 years before NM/SS's first contest.

rated over 14 contests
last seen 2017-07-21

⚔ Head-to-head

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
ELITE BBQ SMOKERS	5	5	0	100%	⚔ compare
Uncle Dubby's Backyard BBQ	5	4	1	80%	⚔ compare
Bowmans Butt & BBQ	5	4	1	80%	⚔ compare
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	5	2	3	40%	⚔ compare
WOLF'S REVENGE BBQ	5	2	2	40%	⚔ compare
MUTTLEY CREW BBQ	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	5	5	1	1	173.7028	165.6916	168.89	top 26%
Pork Ribs	5	5	0	1	173.1200	163.9544	167.39	top 22%
Pork	3	2	0	0	164.5372	155.9312	159.38	top 33%
Brisket	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—

“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 state / province

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
VA	4	0	top 29%
NC	1	0	top 18%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Small (<20 teams)	2	0	top 40%
Medium (20–39)	3	0	top 18%

The story so far (18 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 4.1 yrs 2020-08-07 → 2024-08-30

Busiest season 2020 4 contests

Contests a season 2.5 across 2 seasons in the data

Cooks most in VA 4 of 5 contests · 2 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 5 0 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 5 entries · 1 win · 5 calls

Strongest meat Chicken averages 168.89 · weakest Pork (159.38)

Walk rate 100% a top-10 call in 5 of 5 contests

Overall top-10 rate 100% 5 of 5 contests

Best top-10 run 5 straight contests — and still running

Backyard average 400.72 out of 360 · 5 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 111 156–52 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 65 5 mapped stops · furthest 60 mi

Schedule strength 1617 average field rating faced — tougher than 86% of rated contests

Purse competed for $21,450 listed at 5 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships 0 from 5 state-championship entries

Longest layoff 3.8 yrs 2020-10-30 → 2024-08-30

Power rating 1553 peak 1553 · #1682 of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2020
Aug 7 First tracked contest BBQ WYTHE US DAY 1
Aug 7 First call BBQ WYTHE US DAY 1
Aug 7 First overall top-10 BBQ WYTHE US DAY 1
Aug 7 First overall past 90% of a perfect score330.2060 BBQ WYTHE US DAY 1
Oct 29 First category win (Chicken) The Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q
Oct 29 Career-best overall score500.4912 The Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q
Oct 29 Career-best single call (Chicken)173.7028 The Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q
2024
Aug 30 Peak power rating (1553) Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival
Aug 30 Most recent contest Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+16.6	The Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q	2020-10-29
+11.7	Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival	2024-08-30
+11.2	Zom-B-Q	2020-10-30
+11.1	BBQ WYTHE US DAY 1	2020-08-07
+2	BBQ WYTHE US DAY 2	2020-08-08

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)

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	1	0	100%	top 18%	93%	93%
2020	4	0	4	1	100%	top 29%	139%	115.9%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2024-08-30	Fire in the Foothills BBQ Festival 🏅 King, NC	5 / 28 (334.7656)	6 (169.6800)	6 (165.0856)	10 (155.9312)	—
2020-10-30	Zom-B-Q 🏅 Wytheville, VA	8 / 33 (499.3256)	8 (169.1084)	8 (165.6800)	9 (164.5372)	—
2020-10-29	The Nightmare Before Zom-B-Q 🏅 Wytheville, VA	4 / 33 (500.4912)	1 (173.7028)	7 (169.1084)	12 (157.6800)	—
2020-08-08	BBQ WYTHE US DAY 2 🏅 WYTHE, VA	9 / 17 (338.8116)	9 (165.6916)	3 (173.1200)	—	—
2020-08-07	BBQ WYTHE US DAY 1 🏅 WYTHE, VA	5 / 19 (330.2060)	5 (166.2516)	5 (163.9544)	—	—

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
2024 ↗	Backyard	#255 (164 pts)	#273 (154 pts)	#268 (154 pts)	—	—
2020 ↗	Backyard	—	#14 (704 pts)	#14 (674 pts)	—	—