BUCKNER BROTHERS BBQ

BUCKNER BROTHERS BBQ is a competition barbecue team with 26 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2013 and 2018. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 28 at the I Love Barbecue & Music Festival (2013), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once. They are ranked #1309 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#1,309

of 6,476 rated · rankings

Rating

1579

peak 1608 · rated over 26 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Jun 28, 2013

latest Jul 28, 2018 · 5.1 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#562

Master 2013 · every season

Grand champs

1 reserve

Category wins

8 podiums

Overall top-10s

31% of 26 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s

Avg finish

top 41%

overall standings

Best overall

669.0056 / 720

Master · The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival

Perfect 180s

Current form

629.94 ▼

last 5 Master vs avg 642.16 (-12.23)

Walk rate

73%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

177.1428

Chicken · The Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ

Consistency

±18.30

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork

avg 163.97 · weakest Pork Ribs (157.61)

Road miles

6,875

across 26 mapped stops · furthest 430 mi

Schedule strength

35%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1546)

Master avg

642.16 / 720

26 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (12 found in their record)

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

The heartbreaker

1.1432 points from the title

Came within 1.1432 points of the Grand Championship at I Love Barbecue & Music Festival (Jul 4, 2013).

They almost always walk

73% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 19 of 26 contests

A top-10 category call in 73% of their 26 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

669.0056 career-best overall

92.9% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 669.0056 at The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival — 92.9% of a perfect 720.

Master
Jul 23, 2016

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

Q HAVEN BBQ has finished one call ahead of BUCKNER BROTHERS BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

Their season

2015 their best year

2015 was the year it came together: 5 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 27%.

5 contests
2 overall top-10s
0 category wins
average top 27%

A tough matchup

15–1 behind in the head-to-head

SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA ahead in 94% of their meetings

SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA has come out ahead in 15 of their 16 shared contests.

The weak link

−6.4 points behind their best meat

Pork Ribs is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 6.36 points below their pork, and turns into a call 12% of the time against 42%.

Pork Ribs avg 157.61
Pork avg 163.97
3 calls in 26 entries

Show 5 more storylines

A strong matchup

9–3 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 75% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of BEHIND BBQ in 9 of their 12 shared contests.

Pork nemesis

12 of 15 shared pork entries lost

Rogue Hog BBQ ahead 80% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, Rogue Hog BBQ has out-cooked them in 12 of 15 shared pork entries.

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

Rogue Hog BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

The long haul

6,875 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 6,875 miles across 26 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 430 miles to 4th Annual Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition.

26 mapped stops
furthest 430 mi

A standing appointment

6 years running at one contest

They've cooked I Love Barbecue & Music Festival every year from 2013 to 2018 — the contest they never miss.

6 visits in all
best finish 2nd

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
2014 ↗	Master	#1005 (311 pts)	#984 (356 pts)	#1440 (201 pts)	#1581 (171 pts)	#859 (401 pts)
2013 ↗	Master	#562 (557 pts)	#413 (747 pts)	#975 (317 pts)	#443 (732 pts)	#699 (467 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to BUCKNER BROTHERS BBQ, each with one reason worth a look.

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

Cooters N Smoke

#1,313 of the rated field

1578 power rating

Contests: 27
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 22%
Peak: 1591

Careers of much the same size, 27 contests to 26, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 25 contests
last seen Mar 20, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

B Team BBQ

#1,315 of the rated field

1578 power rating

Contests: 26
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 42%
Peak: 1590

Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 26 contests, alongside a 42% overall top-10 rate.

rated over 25 contests
last seen Jul 11, 2025

⚔ Compare careers

STOKED & SMOKED BARBECUE TEAM GA

#1,314 of the rated field

1578 power rating

Contests: 41
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1608

They've been 1608 at their best, 30 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 41 contests
last seen Jun 3, 2022

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Barely Sober BBQ

#1,311 of the rated field

1579 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 40%
Peak: 1579

Level with BUCKNER BROTHERS BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 10 contests
last seen Jan 22, 2026

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BBQ & BEYOND

#1,310 of the rated field

1579 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 56%
Peak: 1579

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2013.

rated over 9 contests
last seen Aug 10, 2019

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Cove of Craziness

#1,312 of the rated field

1579 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 38%
Peak: 1579

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 8 contests
last seen Jun 24, 2022

⚔ Compare careers

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA	16	1	15	6%	⚔ compare
Rogue Hog BBQ	15	4	11	27%	⚔ compare
THE 5TH ARTERY	13	4	9	31%	⚔ compare
BEHIND BBQ	12	9	3	75%	⚔ compare
SHORTSVILLE SMOKERS	12	5	7	42%	⚔ compare
THE BASIC BBQ TEAM	12	3	9	25%	⚔ compare
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE	12	2	10	17%	⚔ compare
TEAM EATAPEDIA	11	6	5	55%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN BOYS AND HOT GRILLS	11	6	5	55%	⚔ compare
GOOD SMOKE BBQ	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
REBEL YELL BBQ	9	6	3	67%	⚔ compare
Q HAVEN BBQ	9	1	8	11%	⚔ compare
INSANE SWINE BBQ	9	0	9	0%	⚔ compare
THE GOOD CUE CREW	8	6	2	75%	⚔ compare
HAWG DOCTORS	8	5	3	63%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	26	9	1	2	177.1428	143.9656	161.64	top 47%
Pork Ribs	26	3	0	1	170.2744	144.5028	157.61	top 52%
Pork	26	11	0	3	174.2744	143.9544	163.97	top 35%
Brisket	26	7	1	2	172.5828	128.9940	158.94	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)	12	0	top 44%
Large (40+)	14	0	top 38%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	Avg finish
NY	13	top 37%
VA	7	top 38%
VT	6	top 54%

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

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
I Love Barbecue & Music Festival	6	2	top 31%	Jul 6, 2018
The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival	3	12	top 66%	Jul 28, 2018
BBQ Jamboree	3	13	top 35%	May 13, 2016
Oinktoberfest	3	3	top 36%	Sep 19, 2015
Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ	2	8	top 27%	Jul 25, 2015
Roc City Rib Fest	2	36	top 61%	May 23, 2015

More numbers

Busiest season 2015 5 contests

Contests a season 4.3 across 6 seasons in the data

Most contests held in NY 13 of 26 contests · 3 states in all

Contests visited 13 6 of them more than once

Opponents faced 480 finished ahead 700 times, behind 472

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

20182 milestones

Jul 6 25th tracked contest I Love Barbecue & Music Festival
Jul 28 Most recent contest The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival

20171 milestone

Jul 7 Peak power rating (1608) I love Barbecue & Music Festival

20161 milestone

Jul 23 Career-best overall score669.0056 The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival

20142 milestones

Jul 25 First overall past 90% of a perfect score653.0284 Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ
Sep 20 10th tracked contest Oinktoberfest

20137 milestones

Jun 28 First tracked contest Boston Hill BBQ Fest
Jun 28 First call Boston Hill BBQ Fest
Jul 4 First overall top-10 I Love Barbecue & Music Festival
Jul 4 First overall podium I Love Barbecue & Music Festival
Jul 4 First Reserve Championship I Love Barbecue & Music Festival
Jul 26 First category win (Chicken) The Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ
Jul 26 Career-best single call (Chicken)177.1428 The Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+14.9	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival	Jul 4, 2013
+13.4	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival	Jul 3, 2015
+12.7	Oinktoberfest	Sep 19, 2015
+10.5	Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ	Jul 25, 2014
+10.1	BBQ Jamboree	May 8, 2015

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-10.5	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival	Jul 6, 2018
-10.1	The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival	Jul 28, 2018
-7.3	The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival	Jul 29, 2017
-6.7	The Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ	Jul 26, 2013
-4.1	Roc City Rib Fest	May 23, 2015

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)
2018	3	0	0	0%	top 73%	90.8%	86.6%
2017	4	2	0	75%	top 39%	92.1%	90.2%
2016	4	1	0	100%	top 32%	92.9%	91.3%
2015	5	2	0	80%	top 27%	92.7%	90.8%
2014	5	2	1	60%	top 44%	90.7%	87.3%
2013	5	1	1	100%	top 42%	89.7%	88.5%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Jul 28, 2018	The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival Windsor, VT	28 / 34 (616.9716)	25 (161.0972)	31 (150.2400)	28 (151.9772)	24 (153.6572)
Jul 6, 2018	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	32 / 39 (600.3308)	39 (143.9656)	24 (151.9656)	27 (154.7540)	25 (149.6456)
Apr 27, 2018	Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition Lenexa, VA	24 / 45 (653.6228)	37 (154.8228)	29 (161.0972)	15 (168.5484)	12 (169.1544)
Jul 29, 2017	The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival Windsor, VT	21 / 30 (631.3256)	4 (170.3200)	14 (162.3088)	4 (169.7028)	28 (128.9940)
Jul 7, 2017	I love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	10 / 40 (647.4288)	31 (153.7372)	12 (162.8800)	4 (166.2516)	14 (164.5600)
Apr 28, 2017	4th Annual Pickin N Pullin BBQ competition Lanexa, VA	10 / 46 (662.7772)	12 (169.1544)	22 (159.4172)	15 (166.8344)	9 (167.3712)
Mar 24, 2017	BBQ Gives Back Urbanna, VA	26 / 64 (655.3144)	31 (167.9772)	30 (162.8228)	27 (166.2400)	37 (158.2744)
Jul 23, 2016	The Harpoon Brewery BBQ Festival Windsor, VT	12 / 26 (669.0056)	8 (170.2744)	6 (170.2744)	11 (168.5256)	15 (159.9312)
Jul 2, 2016	I love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	10 / 28 (629.7372)	4 (168)	14 (156)	9 (160)	22 (145.7372)
May 28, 2016	Roc City Rib Fest Rochester, NY	11 / 50 (666.2284)	24 (166.2628)	26 (164.5600)	26 (162.8228)	5 (172.5828)
May 13, 2016	BBQ Jamboree Fredericksburg, VA	18 / 72 (664.4684)	35 (162.2628)	27 (163.9772)	18 (165.6684)	5 (172.5600)
Sep 19, 2015	Oinktoberfest Clarence, NY	3 / 52 (663.5316)	10 (165.7144)	3 (168.6056)	10 (164.5944)	10 (164.6172)
Jul 25, 2015	Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ Windsor, VT	11 / 35 (667.4400)	11 (169.1428)	14 (165.7600)	2 (174.2744)	26 (158.2628)
Jul 3, 2015	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	4 / 31 (641.1428)	5 (165.7144)	8 (158.8684)	16 (156.5600)	10 (160)
May 23, 2015	Roc City Rib Fest Rochester, NY	36 / 57 (641.0740)	52 (152)	21 (163.4400)	21 (165.0856)	33 (160.5484)
May 8, 2015	BBQ Jamboree Fredericksburg, VA	13 / 65 (654.2404)	45 (155.4056)	29 (161.1204)	4 (173.1200)	16 (164.5944)
Sep 20, 2014	Oinktoberfest Clarence, NY	33 / 66 (624.4112)	62 (144.5028)	24 (160.5484)	7 (168.5600)	40 (150.8000)
Jul 25, 2014	Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ Windsor, VT	8 / 34 (653.0284)	4 (167.9772)	19 (157.6800)	14 (162.2512)	12 (165.1200)
Jul 4, 2014	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	7 / 27 (625.6232)	8 (159.9888)	13 (151.9772)	24 (143.9544)	1 (169.7028)
May 24, 2014	Roc City Rib Fest Rochester, NY	51 / 86 (625.0056)	53 (157.0856)	76 (144.5028)	39 (160.5716)	29 (162.8456)
May 9, 2014	BBQ Jamboree Fredericksburg, VA	39 / 64 (616.4004)	51 (150.2976)	46 (150.7772)	34 (157.6456)	18 (157.6800)
Sep 20, 2013	Oinktoberfest Clarence, NY	38 / 71 (619.3372)	50 (153.1084)	48 (146.2516)	4 (170.2972)	47 (149.6800)
Aug 23, 2013	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Richmond, VA	13 / 29 (640.5144)	16 (161.7028)	19 (151.9772)	3 (170.8800)	20 (155.9544)
Jul 26, 2013	The Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ Windsor, VT	22 / 31 (635.8860)	1 (177.1428)	30 (146.8688)	19 (159.3600)	24 (152.5144)
Jul 4, 2013	I Love Barbecue & Music Festival Lake Placid, NY	2 / 28 (645.7138)	3 (167.9998)	15 (149.7144)	6 (162.8570)	2 (165.1426)
Jun 28, 2013	Boston Hill BBQ Fest Hamburg, NY	16 / 49 (645.7144)	12 (166.8572)	31 (154.2858)	3 (172)	30 (152.5714)

BUCKNER BROTHERS BBQ

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

Master avg

Storylines (12 found in their record)

The heartbreaker

They almost always walk

High-water mark

The one to beat

Their season

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Pork nemesis

Looking over their shoulder

The long haul

A standing appointment

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

Overall rank by season

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)