A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
309 BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
309 BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Ivy League
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1475
peak 1475 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2023-08-25
latest 2026-08-28
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 82%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
313.89
last 3 Backyard vs avg 313.89 (+0.00)
Walk rate
0%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±9.61
std dev of Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 157.13 · weakest Pork Ribs (156.76)
Road miles
0
mi across 3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
23%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1531)
Purse competed for
$15K
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
Backyard avg
313.89 / 360
3 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Storylines (2 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 comeback
2 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 2 years, then back at Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) (2026-08-28).
- last seen 2024-08-23
- back 2026-08-28
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.
Ivy League has 3 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 146 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.
#4348 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1505
No shared contest yet.
They've been 1505 at their best, 30 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.
⚔ Head-to-head#4350 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#4357 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2023, 3 years before Ivy League's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#4340 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1501
No shared contest yet.
They were already cooking in 2013, 10 years before Ivy League's first contest.
⚔ Head-to-head#4359 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
Level with Ivy League on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#4375 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1475
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2016, 10 years before Ivy League's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-headBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 163.4288 | 144.5484 | 157.13 | top 78% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159.4288 | 154.8460 | 156.76 | top 85% |
| Pork | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
| 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 contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 94% |
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 77% |
Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | 3 | 15 | 0 | top 82% | 2026-08-28 |
The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
3 yrs
2023-08-25 → 2026-08-28
Busiest season
2026
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
IL
3 of 3 contests
Contests visited
1
1 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Chicken
3 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Chicken
averages 157.13 · weakest Pork Ribs (156.76)
Walk rate
0%
a top-10 call in 0 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 3 contests
Backyard average
313.89
out of 360 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
51
14–53 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
0
3 mapped stops
Schedule strength
1531
average field rating faced — tougher than 23% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$15,000
listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings
Longest layoff
2 yrs
2024-08-23 → 2026-08-28
Power rating
1475
peak 1475 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2023
- First tracked contest Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1487) Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2024
- Career-best overall score322.8576 Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Chicken)163.4288 Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
- 2026
- Most recent contest Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -12.7 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2023-08-25 |
| -10.4 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2026-08-28 |
| -1.7 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2024-08-23 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 94% | 88.4% | 88.4% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 61% | 89.7% | 89.7% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 92% | 83.5% | 83.5% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-28 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 15 / 16 (318.2520) | 14 (163.4060) | 16 (154.8460) | — | — |
| 2024-08-23 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 17 / 28 (322.8576) | 14 (163.4288) | 22 (159.4288) | — | — |
| 2023-08-25 | Up in Smoke on the Square (BACKYARD ONLY) Lincoln, IL | 24 / 26 (300.5600) | 25 (144.5484) | 20 (156.0116) | — | — |