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For many in the South, barbecue is a staple of their diet and often provides a reason to gather friends and family on a warm summer evening to cookout. Most are casual barbecue enthusiasts, while some enjoy it as a meal out, too intimidated to try it at home. For others, however, barbecue is a sport which brings with it intense competition, recognition and serious prize money.

Although they've been around for several years in various forms, Food Network can be credited for building a huge mainstream following in recent years for cooking competitions in everything from Iron Chef's surprise ingredients to outrageous Disney character cakes and sugar sculptures. This weekend, the Bodagetta BBQ contest will bring a national barbecue competition to Auburn University's Ag Heritage Park. The contest will host some of the country's most serious professional barbecue teams, as well as local amateur or "tailgater" teams.

The event brings almost 40 professional teams from all over the Southeast and from as far as Indiana. These teams have names like Hog Heaven BBQ, Smokin' Rednecks and BUBBAQ, and many have been consistently ranked in KCBS' Team of the Year standings the past several years. Many of the teams follow these competitions across the country, motoring to one as much as three or four times each month.

Teams will set up their cooking stations during the day Friday, March 27. Live music, including performances by Chris Posey and Kidd Blue, will begin at 5:15 p.m. Cooking continues into Saturday, March 28, and professional teams begin submitting their samples at 11 a.m. Saturday will feature live music from Route 66, Dooley's Blue Revue and others beginning at noon. Winners are set to be announced at 3 p.m.

Ag Heritage Park is located at Samford Avenue and Donahue Drive. The event is open to the public and includes kids' activities and a bloody mary cocktail contest to kick off Saturday morning's activities. Tickets may be purchased at the gate for $5 and food vendors will be set up for the weekend.

The Bodagetta BBQ will be one of almost 300 events sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) this year. The KCBS began in 1985 and now boasts more than 8,000 members around the world. The mission of the KCBS, as their website explains, "is to celebrate, teach, preserve, and promote barbeque as a culinary technique, sport and art form. We want barbeque to be recognized as America's Cuisine." As a KCBS event, all competitors must be members to compete and the event will be judged by KCBS rules.

Judges will evaluate samples in chicken, pork ribs, pork and beef brisket based on three criteria: taste, appearance and texture. For a professional team to be eligible for the Grand or Reserve Grand Champion title, they must be entered in each of the four categories. The amateur teams will compete in chicken and ribs.

More information on the Bodagetta BBQ contest can be found at bodagettabbq.com or