A tough matchup
3–0
behind in the head-to-head
Rudes BBQ ahead in 100% of their meetings
Rudes BBQ has come out ahead in 3 of their 3 shared contests.
Big Rich BBQ
Big Rich BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2015 and 2024. Their best overall finish is 7th of 32 at the Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) (2023). They are ranked #3592 of 6,485 teams in the KCBS power rankings. Also listed in KCBS results as “Big & Rich BBQ”.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1491
peak 1491 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Oct 16, 2015
latest Jun 14, 2024 · 8.7 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
20% of 5 contests
Avg finish
top 60%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
40%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±9.91
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 165.09 · weakest Brisket (152.53)
Road miles
548
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 359 mi
Schedule strength
30%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1541)
Purse competed for
$22K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 1 state-championship entry
Master avg
646.16 / 720
1 Master contest · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
318.82 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master 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.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Big Rich BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.
153 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,611 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1491
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Big Rich BBQ)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Big Rich BBQ has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,617 of the rated field
- Contests
- 17
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 6%
- Peak
- 1509
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Big Rich BBQ)
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 3 years before Big Rich BBQ's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,579 of the rated field
- Contests
- 23
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1491
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Big Rich BBQ)
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 23 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,605 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1491
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,594 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 20%
- Peak
- 1516
They turned up 9 years after Big Rich BBQ did, first appearing in 2024.
⚔ Compare careers#3,578 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1502
Level with Big Rich BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 164.5372 | 154.2400 | 159.76 | top 60% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 174.3088 | 149.0972 | 161.01 | top 44% |
| Pork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165.0856 | 165.0856 | 165.09 | top 72% |
| Brisket | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 152.5256 | 152.5256 | 152.53 | top 92% |
“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) | 3 | 0 | top 66% |
| Large (40+) | 2 | 0 | top 51% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | 2 | 28 | 0 | top 83% | Jun 14, 2024 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2023
2 contests
Contests a season
1.3
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
4 of 5 contests · 2 states in all
Contests visited
4
1 of them more than once
Opponents faced
168
finished ahead 84 times, behind 121
Longest layoff
5.7 yrs
Oct 16, 2015 → Jun 25, 2021
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20241 milestone
- Most recent contest Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
20232 milestones
- First overall top-10 Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score332.5144 Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY)
20211 milestone
- Peak power rating (1498) Heritage Days BBQ Showdown (Day one)
20154 milestones
- First tracked contest Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival
- First call Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival
- Career-best overall score646.1600 Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)174.3088 Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +11.6 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) | Aug 19, 2023 |
| +5.5 | Heritage Days BBQ Showdown (Day one) | Jun 25, 2021 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -14.1 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 17, 2023 |
| -7 | Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival | Oct 16, 2015 |
| -4.9 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 14, 2024 |
Scores over time (% of a perfect score — 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 | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 70% | 90% | 90% |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50% | top 59% | 92.4% | 89.3% |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 33% | 85.7% | 85.7% |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% | top 78% | 89.7% | 89.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 14, 2024 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 28 / 40 (323.9428) | 32 (159.9656) | 22 (163.9772) | — | — |
| Aug 19, 2023 | Smoke on the Midway (BACKYARD ONLY) Fairbury, IL | 7 / 32 (332.5144) | 14 (164.5372) | 4 (167.9772) | — | — |
| Jun 17, 2023 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 32 / 33 (310.2628) | 21 (160.5828) | 32 (149.6800) | — | — |
| Jun 25, 2021 | Heritage Days BBQ Showdown (Day one) 🏅 Belvidere, IL | 16 / 49 (308.5488) | 12 (159.4516) | 17 (149.0972) | — | — |
| Oct 16, 2015 | Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival Nelsonville, OH | 28 / 36 (646.1600) | 32 (154.2400) | 7 (174.3088) | 26 (165.0856) | 33 (152.5256) |