Universities Withdraw Support of Macleans University Survey/Ranking

I have never thought highly of Macleans Magazine's annual university ranking. Finally it looks like the universities are taking some action against Macleans. It was announced yesterday that several universities have withdrawn support for Macleans university ranking. 11 universities in fact, including the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Toronto, and McMaster University. Apparently the have "reservations about the methodology." I have reservations about the methodology as well, however, a more basic problem I have is that I do not think it is possible to "rank" universities at all and also that it is not productive to do so. If anyone wants to spend any time ranking "universities" their time is better spent ranking "programs" or better yet, classes or professors. One university might have the "best" agricultural sciences program in the country while at the same time having the "worst" medical school program in the country. This kind of information is completely lost in the Macleans rankings.