KCBS Regional scoring differences

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DoctorCueNC

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I’m just wondering if anyone has ever looked at the scoring differences between states or regions. I’ve heard a mid to high 160 in some cases could be top 10 in one state and bottom 10 in another and just curious if there are known high and low pockets.
 
TN is probably about the highest scoring with OK close behind. Lowest scoring is in the Northeast. Kansas City area is pretty high with scores going lower as you go north.
 
Up here in Canada a 670 will get you a gc for the most part. 669, 673, 669, 665, 674, 665, 664, 679, 692, 663 and 687 have been the gc scores this year in Canada and the last comp the winner had 669 and rgc had 649. A 649 in the south might not get you top 30 out of 35 teams.
 
I believe the number of teams entered in a contest factors in as well. To get a real picture, region, prize money, and number of teams entered would have to be calculated for the year and compared. Sounds like a good project for you, Doc. :wink:
 
I did look at this a couple of years ago when I was working on scoring for the California BBQ Association Team of the Year. This data is from 2015 and I only looked at the scores for the GCs that were posted on the KCBS events page.

TN-703.6 WV-703.4 CA-702.1 AZ-701.5 AR-701.2 OH-701.1 DC-700 MS-698.3 OK-698 KY-696.7 GA-696.4 NV-696.2 NC-695.1 MA-694.8 KS-694.7 CO-694.6 WY-694.4 MO-694.1 LA-694 SC-693.4 IN-693.4 SD-692.6 FL-692.4 MT-692 IA-691 AL-691 NE-690.9 IL-690.4 OR-690 RI-689.8 VA-689.3 MI-688 NM-688 VT-688 MN-687.8 MD-687.1 CT-686.4 DE-683.9 PA-683.8 ME-683.7 WI-682.8 TX-682.2 NH-681.4 WA-680.6 UT-678.1 MB-668 NJ-667.9 NY-667.4
 
Northeast has had contests won with a 635. My Sam's Club brisket had five 7's. It was 5th. My first place brisket last weekend (59 teams) had 2 7's. You can image what the middle of the pack scores looked like.

So there are very much regional differences - but does it matter? Other than accumulating 180 and 700 club pins, the score doesn't affect where you finish in a contest because everyone else is in the same boat (assuming no TOA/TOA problem).
 
I played around with the KCBS numbers from 2016, USA only. I may have missed a number or two. I was curious, because I heard some folks at a comp saying that time of the year influences scoring.

Busiest months -- June, September
Highest GC score for the year – 712.5944, MO
Lowest GC score for the year -- 658.2856, NY

I averaged the GC scores for each month, throwing out January, February, March, November, and December due to too few data points.

I was surprised. Points varied very little month to month, with all average GC scores in the 690s. October had the highest average -- 697. May had the lowest average -- 692. So it looks like the cooks git'er done in the dog days of summer.

I'm going to look at scores vs. prize money next.
 
The real application for this is I guess thinking what are the translations between scores if any can be made. For example is a 165 in Virginia a 165 everywhere or would say a 165 there be more of a 170 in higher scoring areas. It would be hard to test this since it isn’t the same judges and it’s not the same cook even looking at teams that travel. And before I get those replies, good bbq is good bbq and will/should rise to the top no matter where, but it does seem regions play a role.
 
DoctorCueNC said:
The real application for this is I guess thinking what are the translations between scores if any can be made.
Click to expand...

I know I can get a 20-30 point bump by going outside the northeast. I think it's hard to use scores to compare across regions. The Empire State race used to use points, but they switched to a percentage of teams beat - a system the Northeast Barbecue Society also uses now. Doing that (or points per place, ala KCBS) is a better indicator than using points.
 
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