The Rank means where you are on the ladder..rating has nothing to do with that. Example...lqqking4future's rank is #1 on the ladder. Now when a Tournament starts the TD gives the first round. The TD goes by the brackets...like this

lqqking4future

swiftlss

lisawinning

tweetybird63070

then Bonnie and Lisa partner as do Swift and Tweety. According to the ladder, Bonnie is Swift's opp and Lisa is Tweety's. If Swift beats Bonnie, and Bonnie's rank is higher on the ladder, then Swift gains 1/2 of Bonnies position. The Opp's are determined by Cases after registration is closed but prior to first round after that the players postion in any set of brackets and whether they win or lose determines the next set of Opp's. At no time does the TD have an option to change Opp's in a Regular Tournament. They can at their disgretion change pairings but never Opp's. Because of this,a players ladder ranking can not be manipulated.
Cases and Pogo ratings for a player is not the same. For Cases rating..When you win a game your rating will increase a certain number of points. Your opponent loses the same number of points you gained and vice versa. If your rating is higher than your opponent you will not as many points as you would by playing someone with a higher rating than you. If you lose to someone who has a lower rating than you,you lose more points than you would have if you had won.
I would like to suggest that each player take a little time and read the rules here at Cases. The ladder is here for all the enjoy. The TDs do these tournaments on a voluntary basis. As HTD's,myself,gotta and simp try to make sure everyone here is treated fairly and not influenced by personal reasons. I myself have total confidence and totally back the TD team.
If any questions please feel free to email one of us and we will be happy to help.
I hope I have cleared up some confusion here and helped. Good Luck at the Tables.