The comeback
10.2 yrs
off the trail, then back
Off the trail for 10.2 years, then back at Shenandoah ShenDig BBQ (2024-07-19).
- last seen 2014-05-16
- back 2024-07-19
Big Blue Barbeque
At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)
Rating
1462
peak 1462 · rated over 3 contests ⓘ
Contests
3
in the data
First seen
2013-05-17
latest 2024-07-19
Best ToY finish
#1182
Master 2024
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podiums
Overall top-10s
0
of 3 contests
Avg finish
top 96%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
563.94
last 3 Master vs avg 563.94 (+0.00)
Walk rate
33%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±73.31
std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 163.78 · weakest Brisket (146.25)
Road miles
731
mi across 3 mapped stops · furthest 723 mi
Schedule strength
25%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1534)
Purse competed for
$7K
listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
GCs in 1 state-championship entries
Master avg
563.94 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Storylines (1 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.
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.
Big Blue Barbeque 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 126 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.
#5034 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1461
0–2 in 2 shared contests (0% to Big Blue Barbeque)
2 contests in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Big Blue Barbeque has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#5017 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1462
No shared contest yet.
A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 5 contests to 3.
⚔ Head-to-head#5013 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1462
No shared contest yet.
Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2013.
⚔ Head-to-head#5024 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1462
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 3 years before Big Blue Barbeque's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#5030 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1461
No shared contest yet.
Level with Big Blue Barbeque on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Head-to-head#5014 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1462
No shared contest yet.
Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 6 years before Big Blue Barbeque'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 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 148.5828 | 146.8572 | 147.72 | top 99% |
| Pork Ribs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159.9772 | 150.2858 | 155.42 | top 90% |
| Pork | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 176.5716 | 153.6684 | 163.78 | top 62% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 158.2856 | 131.9428 | 146.25 | top 85% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TN | 2 | 0 | top 95% |
| IA | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 1 | 0 | top 100% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 95% |
The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)
On the trail
11.2 yrs
2013-05-17 → 2024-07-19
Busiest season
2024
1 contest
Contests a season
1
across 3 seasons in the data
Cooks most in
TN
2 of 3 contests · 2 states/provinces in all
Contests visited
3
0 of them cooked more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
3 entries · 0 wins · 0 calls
Strongest meat
Pork
averages 163.78 · weakest Brisket (146.25)
Walk rate
33%
a top-10 call in 1 of 3 contests
Overall top-10 rate
0%
0 of 3 contests
Master average
563.94
out of 720 · 3 contests · 0 GCs
Opponents faced
110
5–131 across every shared overall standing
Road miles
731
3 mapped stops · furthest 723 mi
Schedule strength
1534
average field rating faced — tougher than 25% of rated contests
Purse competed for
$7,000
listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0
from 1 state-championship entries
Longest layoff
10.2 yrs
2014-05-16 → 2024-07-19
Power rating
1462
peak 1462 · #null of 6,413 rated
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
- 2013
- First tracked contest Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass
- First call Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass
- Career-best overall score632.0002 Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass
- Career-best single call (Pork)176.5716 Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass
- Peak power rating (1488) Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass
- 2024
- Most recent contest Shenandoah ShenDig BBQ
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -13.7 | Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass | 2014-05-16 |
| -12.8 | Shenandoah ShenDig BBQ | 2024-07-19 |
| -11.9 | Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass | 2013-05-17 |
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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | 83% | 83% |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 100% | 64.2% | 64.2% |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 89% | 87.8% | 87.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-07-19 | Shenandoah ShenDig BBQ 🏅 Shenandoah, IA | 36 / 36 (597.6340) | 36 (148.5828) | 35 (156.0000) | 31 (161.1084) | 36 (131.9428) |
| 2014-05-16 | Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass Sevierville, TN | 56 / 56 (462.1712) | — | 46 (159.9772) | 53 (153.6684) | 49 (148.5256) |
| 2013-05-17 | Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass Sevierville, TN | 42 / 47 (632.0002) | 46 (146.8572) | 43 (150.2858) | 2 (176.5716) | 32 (158.2856) |
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 ↗ | Master | #1182 (60 pts) | #1242 (60 pts) | #1317 (60 pts) | #1231 (60 pts) | #1204 (60 pts) |