I keep thinking that one site or another is plotting against us, so I did a comparison of the different sites from 2002 - 2016 current, except for ESPN, which only goes back to 2006. The thing is, what strikes me is the overall consistency much more than differences, with the exception of Rival's 2004 ranking of Stanford's a shade below that of Buffalo, which apparently has a football team, or at least did at that time.
I apologize for how this ended up looking in the post - it eliminated the extra spaces I used when I input it. For the 2002-2005 numbers, the last number is for 247, not ESPN, which had no rankings listed in those years.
Scout Rivals ESPN 247
2016 20 14 14 16
2015 25 18 27 24
2014 16 14 15 13
2013 57 64 40 51 (God's punishment for the excesses of 2012)
2012 7 5 7 7
2011 23 22 22 22
2010 24 26 25 25
2009 16 20 18 18
2008 44 50 47 47
2007 43 51 45 45
2006 38 54 59 59
2005 38 41 25
2004 36 149 59 (Really, Andy?)
2003 26 25 20
2002 30 54 32
Mean 29.5 40.5 29.0 30.9
w/o 2004 Rivals 32.7
I apologize for how this ended up looking in the post - it eliminated the extra spaces I used when I input it. For the 2002-2005 numbers, the last number is for 247, not ESPN, which had no rankings listed in those years.
Scout Rivals ESPN 247
2016 20 14 14 16
2015 25 18 27 24
2014 16 14 15 13
2013 57 64 40 51 (God's punishment for the excesses of 2012)
2012 7 5 7 7
2011 23 22 22 22
2010 24 26 25 25
2009 16 20 18 18
2008 44 50 47 47
2007 43 51 45 45
2006 38 54 59 59
2005 38 41 25
2004 36 149 59 (Really, Andy?)
2003 26 25 20
2002 30 54 32
Mean 29.5 40.5 29.0 30.9
w/o 2004 Rivals 32.7
