South Side Pit Men

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

Rating

1536

peak 1536 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2020-07-17

latest 2024-08-24

Best ToY finish

#581

Master 2020

Grand champs

2 reserve

Category wins

5 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 5 contests

Avg finish

top 29%

overall standings

Best overall

674.7200 / 720

Master · Big Blue Barbecue

Perfect 180s

Walk rate

60%

contests with a top-10 call

Top-10 streak

and counting

Best single call

177.1428

Chicken · Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)

Strongest meat

Brisket

avg 174.56 · weakest Chicken (167.40)

Road miles

457

mi across 5 mapped stops · furthest 191 mi

Schedule strength

42%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1556)

Purse competed for

$14K

listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

GCs in 3 state-championship entries

Master avg

669.58 / 720

2 Master contests · 0 GCs

Backyard avg

347.14 / 360

2 Backyard contests · 0 GCs

Master and Backyard overall scores sit on different scales (Master is 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.

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (6 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.

The heartbreaker

0.6172 points from the title

Came within 0.6172 points of the Grand Championship at Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2024-08-24).

Signature meat

50% pork ribs entries won

2 wins from 4 entries

When pork ribs is on the table, watch out — they've won it in 50% of their entries (2 of 4).

best 176.5600
average 169.84
2 calls

Happy hunting ground

Top 5% average finish here

Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) is their spot: an average finish in the top 5% across 2 visits.

2 visits
best finish 2nd
average top 5%

High-water mark

674.7200 career-best overall

93.7% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 674.7200 at Big Blue Barbecue — 93.7% of a perfect 720.

Master
2020-08-14

The comeback

2 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 2 years, then back at Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2022-08-20).

last seen 2020-08-14
back 2022-08-20

An August team

Top 18% average finish in August

Something about August: average finish in the top 18% across 3 contests, versus top 29% the rest of the year.

3 August contests
top 29% the rest of the year

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.

South Side Pit Men has 4 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 71 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.

CHARCOAL & MORE

#2041 of the rated field

1536 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 66
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 14%
Peak: 1601

1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to South Side Pit Men)

One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team South Side Pit Men has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

rated over 66 contests
last seen 2021-10-22

⚔ Head-to-head

SMOKEY HAZE

#2038 of the rated field

1537 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 100%
Peak: 1538

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 2024-07-26
on a 5-contest top-10 run

⚔ Head-to-head

FOOTHILLS BBQ COMPANY

#2058 of the rated field

1536 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 60%
Peak: 1536

No shared contest yet.

Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 7 years before South Side Pit Men's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 5 contests

⚔ Head-to-head

SONS OF BBQ

#2062 of the rated field

1536 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1536

No shared contest yet.

They were already cooking in 2013, 7 years before South Side Pit Men's first contest.

rated over 5 contests
last seen 2017-02-03

⚔ Head-to-head

Rib Stars

#2049 of the rated field

1536 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1536

No shared contest yet.

Level with South Side Pit Men on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 5 contests
last seen 2016-09-16

⚔ Head-to-head

Double S Smokers

#2048 of the rated field

1536 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1536

No shared contest yet.

A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 10 contests to 5.

rated over 6 contests
last seen 2024-10-30

⚔ Head-to-head

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	4	2	0	2	177.1428	161.6456	167.40	top 45%
Pork Ribs	4	2	2	2	176.5600	161.1200	169.84	top 32%
Pork	2	0	0	0	169.6800	165.6800	167.68	top 66%
Brisket	2	1	1	1	176.0000	173.1200	174.56	top 20%

“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
IL	3	0	top 25%
IN	1	0	top 44%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	2	0	top 34%
Large (40+)	2	0	top 24%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	GCs	Avg finish	Last visit
Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)	2	2	0	top 5%	2024-08-24

The story so far (19 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 4.1 yrs 2020-07-17 → 2024-08-24

Busiest season 2020 2 contests

Contests a season 1.3 across 4 seasons in the data

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

Contests visited 3 1 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 4 entries · 0 wins · 2 calls

Strongest meat Brisket averages 174.56 · weakest Chicken (167.40)

Walk rate 60% a top-10 call in 3 of 5 contests

Overall top-10 rate 40% 2 of 5 contests

Best top-10 run 2 straight contests — and still running

Master average 669.58 out of 720 · 2 contests · 0 GCs

Backyard average 347.14 out of 360 · 2 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 125 112–41 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 457 5 mapped stops · furthest 191 mi

Schedule strength 1556 average field rating faced — tougher than 42% of rated contests

Purse competed for $14,000 listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships 0 from 3 state-championship entries

Longest layoff 2 yrs 2020-08-14 → 2022-08-20

Power rating 1536 peak 1536 · #null of 6,413 rated

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

2019
May 3 First tracked contest Route 66 Smoke Out
2020
Jul 17 First call CIBBQ Red Devil Edition Day 1
Jul 17 First category win (Brisket) CIBBQ Red Devil Edition Day 1
Jul 17 First overall past 90% of a perfect score664.4456 CIBBQ Red Devil Edition Day 1
Aug 14 Career-best overall score674.7200 Big Blue Barbecue
2022
Aug 20 First overall top-10 Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
Aug 20 First overall podium Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
Aug 20 First Reserve Championship Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
2024
Aug 24 Career-best single call (Chicken)177.1428 Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
Aug 24 Peak power rating (1536) Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)
Aug 24 Most recent contest Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+14.7	Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)	2024-08-24
+14.6	Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)	2022-08-20
+7.2	Big Blue Barbecue	2020-08-14

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-0.2	CIBBQ Red Devil Edition Day 1	2020-07-17

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	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2024	1	1	1	100%	top 6%	98.3%	98.3%
2022	1	1	1	100%	top 5%	94.6%	94.6%
2020	2	0	1	50%	top 54%	93.7%	93%
2019	1	0	0	0%	—	—	—

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2024-08-24	Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL	2 / 36 (353.7028)	2 (177.1428)	1 (176.5600)	—	—
2022-08-20	Vine St. BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Park Ridge, IL	2 / 41 (340.5716)	3 (166.8572)	1 (173.7144)	—	—
2020-08-14	Big Blue Barbecue 🏅 Shelbyville, IN	22 / 50 (674.7200)	40 (163.9428)	21 (167.9772)	24 (169.6800)	18 (173.1200)
2020-07-17	CIBBQ Red Devil Edition Day 1 🏅 Eureka, IL	19 / 30 (664.4456)	26 (161.6456)	24 (161.1200)	25 (165.6800)	1 (176.0000)
2019-05-03	Route 66 Smoke Out 🏅 Dwight, IL	—	—	—	—	—

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
2020 ↗	Master	#581 (160 pts)	#756 (115 pts)	#657 (140 pts)	#706 (120 pts)	#324 (375 pts)