THE REAL SMOKING BUTTS

THE REAL SMOKING BUTTS is a competition barbecue team with 10 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2013 and 2017. Their best overall finish is 5th of 44 at the Great Southern Tailgate Cook-off (2013). They are ranked #3315 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#3,315

of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1498

peak 1516 · rated over 10 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Aug 2, 2013

latest Jan 27, 2017 · 3.5 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#706

Master 2013 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

0 podiums

Overall top-10s

10% of 10 contests

Avg finish

top 55%

overall standings

Best overall

678.2516 / 720

Master · Great Southern Tailgate Cook-off

Perfect 180s

Current form

647.17 ▼

last 5 Master vs avg 651.01 (-3.84)

Walk rate

40%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

173.1428

Chicken · Lakeland Pig Festival

Consistency

±13.78

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken

avg 167.52 · weakest Brisket (159.16)

Road miles

1,520

across 10 mapped stops · furthest 464 mi

Schedule strength

26%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1536)

State championships

0 🏅

won from 1 state-championship entry

Master avg

651.01 / 720

10 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (6 found in their record)

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

High-water mark

678.2516 career-best overall

94.2% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 678.2516 at Great Southern Tailgate Cook-off — 94.2% of a perfect 720.

Master
Aug 23, 2013

A tough matchup

8–0 behind in the head-to-head

SWAMP BOYS ahead in 100% of their meetings

SWAMP BOYS has come out ahead in 8 of their 8 shared contests.

The weak link

−8.4 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 8.36 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 20% of the time against 30%.

Brisket avg 159.16
Chicken avg 167.52
2 calls in 10 entries

A strong matchup

5–2 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 71% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of BIG JOHN'S TEXAS BAR-B-QUE in 5 of their 7 shared contests.

Chicken nemesis

6 of 8 shared chicken entries lost

SWAMP BOYS ahead 75% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, SWAMP BOYS has out-cooked them in 6 of 8 shared chicken entries.

The metronome

±1.91% swing around their own average

Their overall lands within ±1.91% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.

averages 90.4% of a perfect score
10 contests

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
2015 ↗	Master	#2158 (60 pts)	#1690 (135 pts)	#2209 (60 pts)	#1614 (155 pts)	#2214 (60 pts)
2014 ↗	Master	#1161 (252 pts)	#1139 (287 pts)	#1105 (297 pts)	#1294 (242 pts)	#992 (332 pts)
2013 ↗	Master	#706 (443 pts)	#648 (503 pts)	#859 (373 pts)	#785 (423 pts)	#663 (488 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to THE REAL SMOKING BUTTS, each with one reason worth a look.

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

Southern Tailgates

#3,305 of the rated field

1498 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 30%
Peak: 1504

Careers of much the same size, 10 contests to 10, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 10 contests
last seen Aug 16, 2024

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Solo Dolo BBQ

#3,328 of the rated field

1497 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1502

Level with THE REAL SMOKING BUTTS on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 10 contests
last seen Jul 13, 2018

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BEAN CAN BBQ

#3,320 of the rated field

1498 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1507

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

rated over 11 contests
last seen Jun 22, 2018

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PECULIAR SMOKE

#3,323 of the rated field

1497 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1501

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 9 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 9 contests
last seen Apr 1, 2016

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PIG PAK

#3,324 of the rated field

1497 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 11%
Peak: 1525

Their last contest in the data was back in 2014, 3 years before THE REAL SMOKING BUTTS's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 9 contests

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We Be Porken

#3,330 of the rated field

1497 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1506

Their last contest in the data was back in 2014, 3 years before THE REAL SMOKING BUTTS's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 9 contests

⚔ Compare careers

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
SWAMP BOYS	8	0	8	0%	⚔ compare
BIG JOHN'S TEXAS BAR-B-QUE	7	5	2	71%	⚔ compare
HOT WACHULA'S	7	0	7	0%	⚔ compare
SWINOS	6	4	2	67%	⚔ compare
Smokin' Slimz	6	1	5	17%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN BLUE Q FL	6	1	5	17%	⚔ compare
WARREN COUNTY PORK CHOPPERS	6	0	6	0%	⚔ compare
Two Crackers Cooking	5	5	0	100%	⚔ compare
The BBQ Shack	5	5	0	100%	⚔ compare
Shanty Town BBQ	5	2	3	40%	⚔ compare
JACK'S OLD SOUTH	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare
WHISKEY BENT BBQ - FL	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare
WICKED QUE	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare
United Pork Smokers	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	10	3	173.1428	155.9656	167.52	top 42%
Pork Ribs	10	0	170.2628	151.9428	160.71	top 57%
Pork	10	1	170.8572	154.2172	163.62	top 48%
Brisket	10	2	173.1316	147.3484	159.16	top 55%

“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 state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
FL	7	0	top 53%
GA	3	0	top 61%

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

Contest	Visits	Best	GCs	Avg finish	Last visit
Lakeland Pig Festival	2	37	0	top 65%	Jan 29, 2016
Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier)	2	34	0	top 70%	Aug 1, 2014

More numbers

Busiest season 2013 4 contests

Contests a season 2 across 5 seasons in the data

Most contests held in FL 7 of 10 contests · 2 states in all

Contests visited 8 2 of them more than once

Opponents faced 333 finished ahead 241 times, behind 303

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

20172 milestones

Jan 27 10th tracked contest Lakeland Pig Festival
Jan 27 Most recent contest Lakeland Pig Festival

20151 milestone

Jan 30 Career-best single call (Chicken)173.1428 Lakeland Pig Festival

20136 milestones

Aug 2 First tracked contest Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier)
Aug 2 First overall past 90% of a perfect score666.7544 Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier)
Aug 23 First call Great Southern Tailgate Cook-off
Aug 23 First overall top-10 Great Southern Tailgate Cook-off
Aug 23 Career-best overall score678.2516 Great Southern Tailgate Cook-off
Nov 15 Peak power rating (1516) When Pigs Fly South

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+13.3	Great Southern Tailgate Cook-off	Aug 23, 2013
+3.3	When Pigs Fly South	Nov 15, 2013
+3.2	The Tiger Town Pig Festival	Jan 23, 2014
+2.9	Boss Hog State Championship Cook-Off (GBC Qualifier)	May 9, 2014

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-8.8	Plant City Pig Jam	Nov 22, 2013
-8.8	Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier)	Aug 1, 2014
-4.8	Lakeland Pig Festival	Jan 29, 2016
-1.4	Lakeland Pig Festival	Jan 30, 2015
-1.2	Lakeland Pig Festival	Jan 27, 2017

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	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2017	1	0	0%	top 63%	89.7%	89.7%
2016	1	0	0%	top 71%	90%	90%
2015	1	0	100%	top 60%	90.6%	90.6%
2014	3	0	33%	top 57%	90.4%	89.8%
2013	4	1	50%	top 47%	94.2%	91.1%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Jan 27, 2017	Lakeland Pig Festival Lakeland, FL	38 / 60 (645.5196)	26 (168.5484)	51 (151.9428)	16 (167.3828)	36 (157.6456)
Jan 29, 2016	Lakeland Pig Festival Lakeland, FL	41 / 58 (647.8972)	42 (161.1428)	26 (165.0972)	46 (158.2400)	29 (163.4172)
Jan 30, 2015	Lakeland Pig Festival Lakeland, FL	37 / 62 (652.4572)	10 (173.1428)	43 (159.3600)	8 (170.8572)	50 (149.0972)
Aug 1, 2014	Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier) Dillard, GA	47 / 56 (639.2112)	35 (167.3828)	15 (170.2628)	50 (154.2172)	54 (147.3484)
May 9, 2014	Boss Hog State Championship Cook-Off (GBC Qualifier) 🏅 Waynesboro, GA	18 / 42 (650.7548)	11 (171.9772)	19 (161.1316)	20 (162.8460)	25 (154.8000)
Jan 23, 2014	The Tiger Town Pig Festival Lakeland, FL	30 / 69 (649.5656)	36 (162.2400)	45 (155.3600)	39 (159.3828)	6 (172.5828)
Nov 22, 2013	Plant City Pig Jam Plant City, FL	43 / 53 (624.4000)	42 (155.9656)	43 (153.0972)	15 (165.6800)	42 (149.6572)
Nov 15, 2013	When Pigs Fly South Lakeland, FL	20 / 49 (655.2572)	6 (171.9656)	19 (166.8344)	22 (163.3944)	39 (153.0628)
Aug 23, 2013	Great Southern Tailgate Cook-off Amelia Island, FL	5 / 44 (678.2516)	8 (171.9772)	15 (166.3088)	12 (169.1200)	4 (170.8456)
Aug 2, 2013	Dillard Bluegrass & Barbeque Festival (GBC Qualifier) Dillard, GA	34 / 61 (666.7544)	25 (170.8228)	47 (157.6800)	38 (165.1200)	16 (173.1316)

THE REAL SMOKING BUTTS

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

State championships

Master avg

Storylines (6 found in their record)

High-water mark

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Chicken nemesis

The metronome

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 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 — 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)