Media Coverage

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and sanctions imposed on it for doing so and new pandemic-related shutdowns in China are the latest events to rock global supply chains. Combined with the China-U.S. trade war and other pandemic- and climate-related disruptions, it is certain to accelerate the movement by Western companies to reduce their dependency on China for components and finished goods and on Russia for transportation and raw materials and to lead to more localized, or regional, sourcing strategies. If China decides to back Russia in the Ukraine conflict, it would only fuel that movement.

Time to overthink almost every game and use the stats, nuggets and goodies I've compiled below to help you gleefully fill out your bracket(s).

A medical supply company founded in the early stages of the pandemic said Wednesday that it intends to build a $350 million glove-manufacturing facility at Tradepoint Atlantic and ultimately bring more than 2,000 new jobs to the Baltimore County site through a multiphase, three-year development.

The war in Ukraine is no longer just a story about a conflict between nations. It’s having an immediate impact on millions of people and creating multitudes of refugees, which in turn is creating a worldwide humanitarian crisis and exasperating global food insecurity. Likewise, the supply chain for goods has become greatly challenged. How can the West address and overcome these disruptions while taking a hard line against Russia’s aggression? We talk with Anna Nagurney, Ph.D., professor of supply chains, logistics and economics at the University of Massachusetts, about the current state of global events and what’s at stake.

The last time the men’s Final Four was composed entirely of teams from the top-three seed lines was way back in 2009. While overall, 74% of Final Four teams since 1985 have been a No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 seed, (per BracketOdds), that still means more than a quarter come from elsewhere. Figuring out who that’s going to be every year (often, it’s just one of the four teams) can be like finding a needle in a haystack—after all, who saw No. 11–seed UCLA coming a year ago? Or No. 11 Loyola Chicago in 2018? Still, we’re going to give it our best shot. Here are five teams seeded No. 4 or lower who could make the trip to New Orleans, plus three more we considered.