Legitimacy of Rivals ratings

[Elephant Tipper 430]

In conversation with a life-long gump friend of mine, a benefactor to UA (BOO now, please  ) I asked him to explain the difference in "posted" recruiting numbers and "discussed" I keep reading for gumpland.  I'll give his exact explanation: "Saban has an agreement with Rivals to not post all of the commitments he has received. Plus, there are a few on the list who don’t even have an offer just to throw the competition off."

We all, at times, disagree with the ratings of players, rankings of teams, but his assertion is that a major college coach and Rivals collude to deceive the public regarding the information disseminated by this service.  I've heard similar accusations hurled at Rivals by fellow AU alums regarding UA recruiting stats but took such as regular banter.  Call me naive but is this practice well-known ?

[aukooze91 11]

Rivals was started by a few bummas before they went corporate, etc.  I believe the original bummas are still on staff doing the rankings, stars, etc.  I don't have proof but I believe it to be true.  I think one of the original guys is a graduate of Huntington College and admittedly is a life long bumma fan.