Big Al and the Boys

Big Al and the Boys is a competition barbecue team with 25 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2014 and 2024. Their best overall finish is 3rd of 42 at the Mclouth BBQ Blowout 29th Annual (2021). They are ranked #946 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#946

of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1611

peak 1611 · rated over 25 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

May 24, 2014

latest Aug 23, 2024 · 10.3 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#397

Master 2019 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

2 podiums

Overall top-10s

24% of 25 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s

Avg finish

top 42%

overall standings

Best overall

691.3716 / 720

Master · Smoke on the Trails

Perfect 180s

Current form

676.01 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 671.46 (+4.55)

Walk rate

64%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

177.7144

Pork Ribs · Border War Barbeque

Consistency

±22.19

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork Ribs

avg 169.24 · weakest Brisket (165.93)

Road miles

1,008

across 25 mapped stops · furthest 59 mi

Schedule strength

76%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1599)

Purse competed for

$167K

listed at 19 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 22 state-championship entries

Master avg

671.46 / 720

25 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (8 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

They almost always walk

64% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 16 of 25 contests

A top-10 category call in 64% of their 25 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

691.3716 career-best overall

96.0% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 691.3716 at Smoke on the Trails — 96.0% of a perfect 720.

Master
Sep 11, 2020

Their season

2019 their best year

2019 was the year it came together: 9 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 31%.

9 contests
4 overall top-10s
0 category wins
average top 31%

A tough matchup

21–1 behind in the head-to-head

HIGH i QUE ahead in 95% of their meetings

HIGH i QUE has come out ahead in 21 of their 22 shared contests.

A strong matchup

10–2 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 83% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of 777 BBQ in 10 of their 12 shared contests.

The comeback

3.4 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 3.4 years, then back at Smoke On the Trails (Sep 29, 2017).

last seen May 24, 2014
back Sep 29, 2017

Pork Ribs nemesis

17 of 22 shared pork ribs entries lost

HIGH i QUE ahead 77% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, HIGH i QUE has out-cooked them in 17 of 22 shared pork ribs entries.

Show 1 more storyline

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

AMERICAN FIRE BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

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
2019 ↗	Master	#397 (810 pts)	#506 (680 pts)	#259 (1,095 pts)	#441 (775 pts)	#345 (945 pts)

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to Big Al and the Boys, each with one reason worth a look.

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

OLD TOWN SMOKERS

#952 of the rated field

1611 power rating

Contests: 28
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 29%
Peak: 1615

Careers of much the same size, 28 contests to 25, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 27 contests
last seen Oct 14, 2022

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SLIM D'S BBQ

#945 of the rated field

1611 power rating

Contests: 30
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 33%
Peak: 1624

Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 5 years before Big Al and the Boys's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 30 contests

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FATTY MAC BARBECUE

#949 of the rated field

1611 power rating

Contests: 16
GCs: 2
Top-10s: 81%
Peak: 1618

Their rating is built on 2 Grand Championships in 16 contests, alongside a 81% overall top-10 rate.

rated over 15 contests
last seen Sep 4, 2015

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SOUTHERN COMFORT BBQ

#944 of the rated field

1611 power rating

Contests: 14
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 36%
Peak: 1611

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 14 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 14 contests
last seen Mar 6, 2026

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FYC BARBEQUE

#950 of the rated field

1611 power rating

Contests: 51
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 41%
Peak: 1679

Level with Big Al and the Boys on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 50 contests
last seen Aug 20, 2021

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All About the Wood

#943 of the rated field

1611 power rating

Contests: 61
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 54%
Peak: 1645

They turned up 5 years after Big Al and the Boys did, first appearing in 2019.

rated over 59 contests
last seen Sep 27, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
HIGH i QUE	22	1	21	5%	⚔ compare
MAN MEAT BBQ	20	0	20	0%	⚔ compare
GETTIN' SAUCED	15	2	13	13%	⚔ compare
ALL FORKED UP FOR Q	14	4	10	29%	⚔ compare
AMERICAN FIRE BBQ	14	4	10	29%	⚔ compare
SLAPS BBQ	14	0	14	0%	⚔ compare
777 BBQ	12	10	2	83%	⚔ compare
Happy Grillmore	12	4	8	33%	⚔ compare
PARTS 'R' SMOKIN	11	5	6	45%	⚔ compare
BULL CREEK BBQ	11	4	7	36%	⚔ compare
ROCK N BLUES BBQ	10	8	2	80%	⚔ compare
Boxer Q BBQ	10	7	3	70%	⚔ compare
LOVE 2 Q	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
PUTTIN' IT IN YOUR MOUTH BBQ	9	9	0	100%	⚔ compare
M Squared Smokin' Q	9	9	0	100%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	25	5	0	0	175.4056	146.2056	168.79	top 44%
Pork Ribs	25	9	1	2	177.7144	134.7428	169.24	top 36%
Pork	25	2	0	0	174.2628	151.9656	167.49	top 48%
Brisket	25	8	0	0	175.4056	139.4060	165.93	top 45%

“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
Medium (20–39)	4	0	top 40%
Large (40+)	21	0	top 43%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
KS	24	0	top 43%
MO	1	0	top 19%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
Border War Barbeque	3	7	top 47%	Oct 21, 2022
Smoke on the Bricks	3	4	top 33%	Aug 20, 2021
Keepers of the Fire BBQ Contest	3	18	top 39%	Jul 9, 2021
Smoke on the Trails	3	11	top 47%	Sep 11, 2020

More numbers

Busiest season 2019 9 contests

Contests a season 3.6 across 7 seasons in the data

Most contests held in KS 24 of 25 contests · 2 states in all

Contests visited 17 4 of them more than once

Opponents faced 579 finished ahead 753 times, behind 575

Longest layoff 3.4 yrs May 24, 2014 → Sep 29, 2017

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

20243 milestones

Aug 23 25th tracked contest East Central Kansas State BBQ Championship
Aug 23 Peak power rating (1611) East Central Kansas State BBQ Championship
Aug 23 Most recent contest East Central Kansas State BBQ Championship

20213 milestones

Jun 4 First overall podium Mclouth BBQ Blowout 29th Annual
Oct 22 First category win (Pork Ribs) Border War Barbeque
Oct 22 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)177.7144 Border War Barbeque

20201 milestone

Sep 11 Career-best overall score691.3716 Smoke on the Trails

20193 milestones

Mar 15 First call Qlathe BBQ Championship
Mar 15 First overall top-10 Qlathe BBQ Championship
Jul 26 10th tracked contest Smokin Hot Cars & BBQ

20171 milestone

Oct 27 First overall past 90% of a perfect score666.2176 Border War Barbeque

20141 milestone

May 24 First tracked contest Sugar Mound BBQ Festival

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+15.1	Smoke on the Bricks	May 31, 2019
+14.7	Qlathe BBQ Championship	Mar 15, 2019
+13.2	Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life	Jun 14, 2019
+12.8	Smokin In The Creek BBQ Contest	Apr 26, 2019
+12.1	Mclouth BBQ Blowout 29th Annual	Jun 4, 2021

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-11.8	Sugar Mound BBQ Festival	May 24, 2014
-5	Qlathe BBQ Championship	Mar 18, 2022
-4.8	Smoke in the Spring	Oct 30, 2020
-4.7	Smoke On the Trails	Sep 29, 2017
-2.2	Border War Barbeque	Oct 22, 2021

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — 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	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2024	1	0	0	0%	top 43%	94.4%	94.4%
2022	2	1	0	100%	top 43%	95.8%	93.9%
2021	5	1	1	60%	top 35%	95.3%	94.3%
2020	5	0	0	60%	top 49%	96%	94.5%
2019	9	4	0	89%	top 31%	95.1%	93.7%
2017	2	0	0	0%	top 67%	92.5%	90.5%
2014	1	0	0	0%	top 95%	80.6%	80.6%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Aug 23, 2024	East Central Kansas State BBQ Championship 🏅 Paola, KS	18 / 42 (679.3256)	16 (171.4056)	14 (173.7144)	32 (162.2400)	13 (171.9656)
Oct 21, 2022	Border War Barbeque 🏅 Osawatomie, KS	7 / 30 (689.6344)	17 (169.1316)	5 (175.4056)	10 (171.9772)	7 (173.1200)
Mar 18, 2022	Qlathe BBQ Championship 🏅 Olathe, KS	45 / 71 (662.7200)	43 (166.2400)	6 (174.2972)	53 (162.8228)	51 (159.3600)
Oct 22, 2021	Border War Barbeque 🏅 Osawatomie, KS	18 / 30 (668.4688)	14 (170.8228)	1 (177.7144)	13 (169.7028)	29 (150.2288)
Aug 20, 2021	Smoke on the Bricks 🏅 Baldwin City, KS	15 / 46 (679.9200)	6 (174.2744)	15 (167.9772)	24 (168.5484)	14 (169.1200)
Jul 9, 2021	Keepers of the Fire BBQ Contest 🏅 Mayetta, KS	18 / 43 (681.6000)	20 (171.9772)	13 (171.9772)	12 (173.1200)	26 (164.5256)
Jun 4, 2021	Mclouth BBQ Blowout 29th Annual 🏅 Mclouth, KS	3 / 42 (686.1940)	4 (175.4056)	12 (173.1200)	13 (170.8456)	14 (166.8228)
Mar 19, 2021	3rd Annual Qlathe BBQ Championship 🏅 Olathe, KS	25 / 70 (678.2172)	19 (171.9772)	21 (171.4172)	28 (170.8228)	40 (164)
Oct 30, 2020	Smoke in the Spring 🏅 Osage City, KS	66 / 93 (664.4912)	52 (169.1200)	57 (166.2628)	61 (166.2628)	62 (162.8456)
Sep 11, 2020	Smoke on the Trails 🏅 Gardner, KS	11 / 48 (691.3716)	24 (169.6800)	4 (176.0116)	20 (170.8228)	9 (174.8572)
Aug 21, 2020	Smoke on the Bricks 🏅 Baldwin City, KS	25 / 43 (674.1828)	11 (174.2744)	33 (163.9772)	30 (164.5256)	14 (171.4056)
Jul 24, 2020	Farm Stock Smoke Off 🏅 Lane, KS	13 / 21 (685.6800)	15 (171.9772)	16 (168)	11 (173.7028)	8 (172)
Jul 10, 2020	Keepers of the Fire BBQ Contest 🏅 Mayetta, KS	18 / 61 (686.2056)	8 (174.8572)	16 (173.7028)	45 (163.3828)	16 (174.2628)
Sep 27, 2019	Smoke on the Trails 🏅 Gardner, KS	23 / 53 (654.7084)	31 (161.0972)	24 (163.4056)	6 (172)	30 (158.2056)
Aug 23, 2019	East Central State BBQ Cook-Off, Paola Roots Festival 🏅 Paola, KS	22 / 66 (673.6228)	33 (166.8344)	38 (163.9656)	32 (167.4172)	7 (175.4056)
Jul 26, 2019	Smokin Hot Cars & BBQ 🏅 Iola, KS	26 / 41 (660.4224)	20 (167.9656)	8 (173.1200)	30 (161.6800)	34 (157.6568)
Jul 12, 2019	Keepers of the Fire BBQ Contest 🏅 Mayetta, KS	27 / 59 (674.7200)	9 (173.7028)	56 (157.0860)	11 (174.2628)	21 (169.6684)
Jun 14, 2019	Knights Of Columbus BBQ Smoke Off 4 Life 🏅 Kansas City, KS	6 / 38 (682.7884)	15 (169.6800)	5 (173.7028)	11 (169.7028)	10 (169.7028)
May 31, 2019	Smoke on the Bricks 🏅 Baldwin City, KS	4 / 49 (683.9660)	7 (173.7144)	4 (175.4172)	22 (165.1200)	10 (169.7144)
Apr 26, 2019	Smokin In The Creek BBQ Contest 🏅 Sugar Creek, MO	8 / 42 (683.8740)	17 (168.5256)	4 (173.7144)	20 (167.3712)	4 (174.2628)
Apr 12, 2019	Smoke In the Springs 🏅 Osage City, KS	36 / 104 (675.8744)	56 (166.8228)	12 (174.2744)	29 (169.6800)	55 (165.0972)
Mar 15, 2019	Qlathe BBQ Championship 🏅 Olathe, KS	8 / 64 (684.4340)	35 (165.0856)	3 (177.7144)	22 (168.5140)	6 (173.1200)
Oct 27, 2017	Border War Barbeque Osawatomie, KS	27 / 46 (666.2176)	27 (168.5372)	31 (164.6060)	16 (170.8228)	30 (162.2516)
Sep 29, 2017	Smoke On the Trails Gardner, KS	48 / 64 (637.5428)	40 (160.5144)	30 (165.7028)	58 (151.9656)	44 (159.3600)
May 24, 2014	Sugar Mound BBQ Festival Mound City, KS	83 / 87 (580.3544)	83 (146.2056)	87 (134.7428)	54 (160)	82 (139.4060)

Big Al and the Boys

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Best top-10 run

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Master avg

Storylines (8 found in their record)

They almost always walk

High-water mark

Their season

A tough matchup

A strong matchup

The comeback

Pork Ribs nemesis

Looking over their shoulder

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Teams like this (closest power rating)

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

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

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

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — 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

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

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)