Ah, fair point. Provisional / known incorrect ranks could be a problem. Maybe we could have both relative and absolute ranks in the game setup, switch between the two with a toggle switch and default to absolute for provisional ranks and relative otherwise. Or, as @jmont rightly pints out, just let the rating system sort it out, which should be pretty quick.
This is starting to sound like it might end up here: Features everyone secretly wants on OGS but will never be implemented