Maybe that they are dicks??? 🙂
If the list is ranked, it is ranked. They have a choice. If they told you it's ranked, I'd take them at their word and believe them. No conspiracy. It's a legit way to do it that involves no decision making on their part after ranking the list. It means they are okay with the class becoming a little out of balance at this point, and they are not looking to replace male with male, ORM with ORM, etc.
The lack of transparency is really pure evil, given how uptight they just know everyone is. It just goes to what you said before about the "sellers' market," because they know there is no consequence to treating people like this, and they don't want to be bothered providing periodic updates like the good schools do, or to have to deal with everyone calling and e-mailing them constantly. So, they are saying, in essence, don't call us, we'll call you, between now and the end of the cycle. EVIL!!!!
It would cost them NOTHING to tell you your place on the list so you can plan accordingly.