High-water mark
671.3372
career-best overall
93.2% of a perfect 720
Their best day on record: 671.3372 at Ribs on the Ridge — 93.2% of a perfect 720.
- Master
- Feb 14, 2025
Music City Smokers
Music City Smokers is a competition barbecue team with 10 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2020 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 3rd at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off (2025). They are ranked #3688 of 6,485 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1489
peak 1489 · rated over 8 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted
Contests
10
in the data
First seen
Nov 20, 2020
latest Jun 12, 2026 · 5.6 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
0 podiums
Overall top-10s
2
20% of 10 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 66%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
30%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±14.75
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 167.72 · weakest Brisket (148.68)
Road miles
3,295
across 9 mapped stops · furthest 583 mi
Schedule strength
47%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1561)
Purse competed for
$60K
listed at 9 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 4 state-championship entries
Master avg
650.50 / 720
3 Master contests · 0 GCs
Backyard avg
337.37 / 360
2 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
486.74 / 540
2 Backyard (3-meat) contests · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Master out of 720, Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #320 (108 pts) | #406 (58 pts) | #246 (183 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #983 (106 pts) | #886 (146 pts) | #994 (126 pts) | #985 (116 pts) | #1038 (101 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #1464 (59 pts) | #1499 (59 pts) | #1562 (59 pts) | #1478 (59 pts) | #1465 (59 pts) |
| 2022 ↗ | Backyard | — | #289 (94 pts) | #261 (119 pts) | — | — |
| 2022 ↗ | Master | #1653 (55 pts) | #1260 (80 pts) | #1174 (115 pts) | #1654 (55 pts) | #1654 (55 pts) |
| 2021 ↗ | Backyard | — | #226 (95 pts) | #259 (70 pts) | — | — |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Music City Smokers, each with one reason worth a look.
158 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#3,712 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1503
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Music City Smokers)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Music City Smokers has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#3,667 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1502
Careers of much the same size, 8 contests to 10, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#3,675 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 63%
- Peak
- 1515
4 straight overall top-10s says this rating is a moving target.
⚔ Compare careers#3,679 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1517
They were already cooking in 2013, 7 years before Music City Smokers's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#3,691 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1514
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before Music City Smokers's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#3,716 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1489
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 175.4056 | 161.6916 | 166.76 | top 63% |
| Pork Ribs | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 176.5716 | 154.7884 | 167.72 | top 47% |
| Pork | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 173.1200 | 149.6344 | 163.57 | top 67% |
| Brisket | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 154.2400 | 138.1716 | 148.68 | top 93% |
“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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 1 | 0 | top 75% |
| Medium (20–39) | 7 | 0 | top 65% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 63% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2025
3 contests
Contests a season
1.4
across 7 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
TN
4 of 10 contests · 6 states in all
Contests visited
10
a different one every time
Opponents faced
306
finished ahead 112 times, behind 243
Longest layoff
1.4 yrs
Nov 20, 2020 → Apr 22, 2022
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20262 milestones
- 10th tracked contest Robertson County Fair Assoc. Barbeque Throwdown (COMPETITOR SERIES)
- Most recent contest Robertson County Fair Assoc. Barbeque Throwdown (COMPETITOR SERIES)
20255 milestones
- First call Ribs on the Ridge
- Career-best overall score671.3372 Ribs on the Ridge
- First overall top-10 American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off
- First overall podium American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)176.5716 American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest
20222 milestones
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score499.3256 Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (Backyard)
- Peak power rating (1497) Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (Backyard)
—1 milestone
- First tracked contest Dr.George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITORS SERIES)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +13.6 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off | Mar 21, 2025 |
| +4.4 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest | Mar 21, 2025 |
| +2 | Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (Backyard) | Apr 22, 2022 |
| +1.5 | The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | May 19, 2023 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -11.2 | Code 3 Spices - Smokin' on Main | Jul 27, 2024 |
| -7.7 | Ribs on the Ridge | Feb 14, 2025 |
| -7.7 | Sevierville's Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass Festival | May 20, 2022 |
| -5.5 | Georgia BBQ Championship Throwdown | Nov 20, 2020 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 89% | 87.9% | 87.9% |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100% | top 28% | 95.9% | 95.9% |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 67% | top 60% | 97.1% | 95% |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 94% | 88.8% | 88.8% |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 59% | 92.8% | 92.8% |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 70% | 92.5% | 90.7% |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 63% | 87.8% | 87.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 12, 2026 | Robertson County Fair Assoc. Barbeque Throwdown (COMPETITOR SERIES) unrated Springfield, TN | 9 / 32 (517.6456) | 16 (169.6684) | 7 (174.8572) | 12 (173.1200) | — |
| Mar 21, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Backyard Contest Kansas City, MO | 15 / 33 (340.5144) | 26 (163.9428) | 5 (176.5716) | — | — |
| Mar 21, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue Steak Cook-Off Kansas City, MO | 3 (174.8688) | — | — | — | — |
| Feb 14, 2025 | Ribs on the Ridge 🏅 Haines City, FL | 12 / 16 (671.3372) | 7 (175.4056) | 9 (170.8572) | 10 (170.8344) | 13 (154.2400) |
| Jul 27, 2024 | Code 3 Spices - Smokin' on Main 🏅 Collinsville, IL | 32 / 34 (639.2232) | 32 (161.6916) | 28 (165.0972) | 30 (158.8000) | 34 (153.6344) |
| May 19, 2023 | The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Winchester, TN | 20 / 34 (334.2284) | 27 (165.1084) | 14 (169.1200) | — | — |
| May 20, 2022 | Sevierville's Bloomin' BBQ & Bluegrass Festival 🏅 Sevierville, TN | 26 / 30 (640.9372) | 20 (166.2628) | 13 (171.9772) | 25 (164.5256) | 29 (138.1716) |
| Apr 22, 2022 | Smoke on the Water BBQ Festival (Backyard) Florence, AL | 18 / 34 (499.3256) | 18 (166.8228) | 13 (167.9772) | 23 (164.5256) | — |
| Nov 20, 2020 | Georgia BBQ Championship Throwdown 🏅 Cumming, GA | 25 / 40 (474.1488) | 16 (166.2628) | 21 (158.2516) | 25 (149.6344) | — |
| — | Dr.George Smith BBQ Brawl (COMPETITORS SERIES) unrated Murfreesboro, TN | 32 / 36 (474.7196) | 21 (165.7028) | 27 (154.7884) | — | — |
An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.