Have just seen this on the Status Match Thread by the way, on a post from Oct '03, that states -

Continental : Will match status, generally to equivalent level up to Platinum (top tier).

So they do, or at least did, match top tier status, prooving my point.

Other US carriers that is states there also comp. their top tier status are - American West, Alaska, USAirways, AirTran, Frontier, Mexicana,... you get the point !