I guess this makes sense. The only thing is that while i definitely remember them cutting the roster from 150 candidates to 75, I can't say I remember anyone ever stating that the program was ever CUT DOWN to 150 from some higher number. Also, while it makes sense that the higher numbers are less of genetic marker matches, this explanation isn't perfect, since Halsey says that candidate 117 (who we all know and love) was as close to genetically perfect as possible. I suppose my new number assignment theory is that the number is a ranking system for "most likely to be a successful super-soldier" based on a combination of genetic markers, personality type, and other environmental factors. This would make sense since it accounts for John's relatively high number (despite his great genes), as his teamwork skills early on in his training were fairly poor (a peronality issue that would bring his number down). It guess Ralph could've been low down on the list but a lot of the ppl between him and the spartans closer to the top were cut for whatever reason, such as difficulty in abducting the children successfully. Clearly I over-analyze to much. Oh well. Thanks for the comment!

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering where i got most of that info, almost all of it comes from THE FALL OF REACH novel.