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The Pickled Pig's BBQ Team Power Rankings - Top 25

Welcome to our BBQ Team Power Rankings. We compete in several KCBS sanctioned barbecue contests each year and are constantly learning tips, tricks, and techniques from fellow competitors. We thought it might be helpful to keep track of which teams are hot so we know who to spy on in future contests. We also thought it might be fun to see where we stack up among the BBQ Elite. These Power Rankings are for informational and entertainment purposes only.


Scoring - Changed For 2009!

Beginning January 1, 2009 we are tracking all results from contests. We will no longer limit our Power Rankings to Top 10 finishes. As a result of this expanded capability, we've significantly altered the Power Rankings scoring model. For a complete explanation and examples of how we calculate the Power Rankings, click here.

Don't like our scoring methodology? No problem. We've created a web application that allows you to define your own scoring criteria and parameters. Check out The Pickled Pig's Do It Yourself BBQ Rankings Generator here.

The Pickled Pig's Power Rankings are cumulative for the calendar year. They include all contests completed between January 1 and December 31. The Power Rankings reset each January and the fun begins again.



The Pickled Pig Power Rankings

Including results for contests from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009

(last contest data available on 06/28/2009)

The Top 25 Overall Teams

Rank  TeamPoints
1)QUAU  3658  
2)LOTTA BULL BBQ  3229  
3)MUNCHIN HOGS AT THE HILTON  3174  
4)FOUR LEGS UP BBQ  3050  
5)FLORIDA SKIN AND BONES  2611  
6)PELLET ENVY  2553  
7)LEARN2Q.COM  2470  
8)KC CAN CREW  2397  
9)BUTCHER BBQ  2355  
10)LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ  2265  
11)SMOKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS  2237  
12)WILD BUNCH BUTT BURNERS  2227  
13)FOUR MEN AND A PIG  2223  
14)JP CUSTOM SMOKE  2123  
15)DELTA SMOKE  2019  
16)SMOKIN TRIGGERS  1956  
17)POPS BLAZIN SMOKERS  1931  
18)JIGGY PIGGY  1898  
19)CANCERSUCKSCHICAGO.COM  1862  
20)IOWAS SMOKEY DS BBQ  1852  
21)SWIGGIN PIG  1838  
22)HOUSE OF Q  1816  
23)SMOKEY JOEL/CUBBY BEAR  1768  
24)RUBBIN IT AND LOVIN IT BBQ  1765  
25)THESLABS.COM  1739  
--Click here to see the entire Overall ranking list.--

The Top 25 Ribs Teams

Rank  TeamPoints
1)QUAU    2882  
2)LOTTA BULL BBQ    2619  
3)SWIGGIN PIG    2431  
4)LEARN2Q.COM    2388  
5)JP CUSTOM SMOKE    2381  
6)MUNCHIN HOGS AT THE HILTON    2287  
7)FLORIDA SKIN AND BONES    2252  
8)SMOKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS    2189  
9)FOUR LEGS UP BBQ    2071  
10)SMOKIN TRIGGERS    2022  
11)DELTA SMOKE    2021  
12)THESLABS.COM    1992  
13)PELLET ENVY    1933  
14)FOUR MEN AND A PIG    1840  
15)LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ    1805  
16)HOUSE OF Q    1763  
16)WILD BUNCH BUTT BURNERS    1763  
18)BLAZEN BBQ    1704  
19)POPS BLAZIN SMOKERS    1684  
20)RUBBIN IT AND LOVIN IT BBQ    1661  
21)CANCERSUCKSCHICAGO.COM    1649  
22)TWYFORD BBQ AND CATERING    1625  
23)SMOKEY JOEL/CUBBY BEAR    1611  
24)JIGGY PIGGY    1573  
25)REDNECK GRILLERS    1499  
--Click here to see the entire Ribs ranking list.--

The Top 25 Brisket Teams

Rank  TeamPoints
1)FOUR LEGS UP BBQ    2654  
2)QUAU    2628  
3)MUNCHIN HOGS AT THE HILTON    2539  
4)LOTTA BULL BBQ    2509  
5)FLORIDA SKIN AND BONES    2416  
6)KC CAN CREW    2387  
7)BUTCHER BBQ    2188  
8)PELLET ENVY    2167  
9)DELTA SMOKE    2050  
10)LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ    1900  
11)HOUSE OF Q    1882  
12)WILD BUNCH BUTT BURNERS    1851  
13)CANCERSUCKSCHICAGO.COM    1819  
14)SMOKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS    1809  
15)FOUR MEN AND A PIG    1719  
16)JACKS OLD SOUTH    1715  
17)LEARN2Q.COM    1625  
18)JIGGY PIGGY    1615  
19)SWIGGIN PIG    1602  
20)POPS BLAZIN SMOKERS    1542  
21)GREAT GRILLS O FIRE    1536  
22)SOUTH PORK    1528  
23)BUFFALOS BBQ    1492  
24)IOWAS SMOKEY DS BBQ    1469  
25)RIBS 4 U    1452  
--Click here to see the entire Brisket ranking list.--
    

The Top 25 Chicken Teams

Rank  TeamPoints
1)QUAU    3631
2)FOUR LEGS UP BBQ    2592
3)MUNCHIN HOGS AT THE HILTON    2526
4)KC CAN CREW    2171
5)FLORIDA SKIN AND BONES    2054
6)THESLABS.COM    1973
7)PELLET ENVY    1968
8)WILD BUNCH BUTT BURNERS    1962
9)LEARN2Q.COM    1942
10)SMOKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS    1941
11)FOUR MEN AND A PIG    1855
12)SMOKEY JOEL/CUBBY BEAR    1812
12)SOUTH PORK    1812
14)SMOKIN TRIGGERS    1804
15)LOTTA BULL BBQ    1786
16)POPS BLAZIN SMOKERS    1730
17)DELTA SMOKE    1708
18)JOBEAZ BLAZIN BUTTS    1583
19)BUTCHER BBQ    1539
20)LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ    1505
21)BLAZEN BBQ    1500
21)SWIGGIN PIG    1500
23)RHYTHM N QUE    1497
24)TWIN OAKS SMOKIN CREW    1475
25)JP CUSTOM SMOKE    1452
--Click here to see the entire Chicken ranking list.--

The Top 25 Pork Teams

Rank  TeamPoints
1)MUNCHIN HOGS AT THE HILTON    2565
2)LOTTA BULL BBQ    2547
3)QUAU    2477
4)FOUR LEGS UP BBQ    2409
5)FLORIDA SKIN AND BONES    2281
6)LITTLE PIG TOWN BBQ    2068
7)BUTCHER BBQ    2064
8)FOUR MEN AND A PIG    2016
9)HOUSE OF Q    2011
10)PELLET ENVY    2004
11)SOUTH PORK    1962
12)RUBBIN IT AND LOVIN IT BBQ    1918
13)JP CUSTOM SMOKE    1907
13)KC CAN CREW    1907
15)LEARN2Q.COM    1826
16)CANCERSUCKSCHICAGO.COM    1784
17)THESLABS.COM    1657
18)TWYFORD BBQ AND CATERING    1632
19)REDNECK GRILLERS    1628
20)PICKIN PORKERS    1618
21)SMOKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS    1597
22)SMOKIN TRIGGERS    1545
23)TEAM BOBBY Q    1492
24)JACKS OLD SOUTH    1473
25)TEAM TOP CHICK    1447
--Click here to see the entire Pork ranking list.--

The Top 25 Grand Champion Winners

Rank  TeamGCs Won
1)MUNCHIN HOGS AT THE HILTON    4
2)BUTCHER BBQ    3
2)IOWAS SMOKEY DS BBQ    3
2)LOTTA BULL BBQ    3
2)PELLET ENVY    3
2)WILD BUNCH BUTT BURNERS    3
7)BLAKES BBQ    2
7)BLUES HOG BBQ    2
7)COOL SMOKE    2
7)FOUR MEN AND A PIG    2
7)GREAT GRILLS O FIRE    2
7)HABITUAL SMOKERS    2
7)HALF SAUCED BARBEQUE    2
7)JACKS OLD SOUTH    2
7)JP CUSTOM SMOKE    2
7)KC CAN CREW    2
7)LEARN2Q.COM    2
7)LO N SLO BBQ    2
7)QUAU    2
7)RUBBIN IT AND LOVIN IT BBQ    2
7)SLAP YO DADDY BBQ    2
7)SMOKE ON WHEELS    2
7)SMOKY MOUNTAIN SMOKERS    2
7)SOUTH PORK    2
7)STUS Q BBQ    2
--Click here to see all of the KCBS Grand Champions.--

Data Limitations

We want these Power Rankings to be as accurate as possible. However, there are many known limitations and problems with the data we analyze. Please keep in mind that our data is not provided, certified, endorsed, or approved by the KCBS or any other sanctioning body. We've done our best to clean it up and fill in the gaps but we need someone to point out any remaining problems to us so we can correct them.

Missing Data

Occassionally, we are unable to find some of the KCBS contest results to include in our tabulation. For a complete list of the contests we know we are missing, click here. If you have any missing results or know where we can find them please let us know by emailing us.

Typographical Problems

The biggest problem we've encountered in this project is the lack of standardization of team names in the contest results. The cumulative scores are based on the team names and this poses a big problem. Since KCBS does not issue team numbers, we're often left to interpret teams the best that we can. Here's a list of common problems we've encountered and how we addressed them:

  • Special Characters and Case - To help avoid confusion, we are reporting all team names in upper case only. In addition, we've eliminated all "s and all 's. And, we've replaced all &s with "AND" and all @s with "AT". For the time being, we've left all -s in place. Besides being difficult to code around, the elimination of special characters simplifies the editing process.
  • Variation of Names - This can be a number used instead of text (i.e., "4" instead of "Four") or missing words (i.e., the word "BBQ" is often left off). To correct for this, we manually scan the list and try to standardize on the most often reported variation.
  • Mispelled Names - We're not sure who is responsible for the spelling of team names (i.e., the team, the contest organizer, the KCBS rep, or KCBS) but there are considerable spelling variations from contest to contest. To address this we manually scan the list of teams and try our best to correct for mispelled words when we believe they are not intentionally mispelled.
  • Duplicate Team Names - Duplicate or nearly duplicate team names are the most difficult problems to address. We literally have nothing but the team name (as reported in the results) to go by. We gave weight to the number of contests the teams scored in and the geographical region of the country to address these issues. For the high scoring and well known teams that competed often, we assumed any near duplicates were the same team. For contest results from the same geographical area, we made the same assumption. If a team scored once on the West coast and once on the East coast, we kept them as separate entities. For anything in between the extremes, we used our best judgment. Please let us know about any errors by emailing us and we will fix them accordingly.