Yeah I'm gonna badger you to vote. You've got until 8 PM. If you're in Michigan same-day registration is now a thing.

Find your polling place here. The peaceful transition of power is a cultural accomplishment currently under threat and a giant blowout would help this not fall apart.

Palate cleanser. Here's a song about cucumbers.

Hopefully this helps you this day.

[After THE JUMP: Mel Pearson flexes]

Bob Shoop is not actually coaching. This is very odd:

"Bob Shoop is not working with the team in an on-field coaching capacity at this time," UM football spokesman Dave Ablauf said in a statement Monday. "He is performing team-related duties remotely. In consideration of his privacy interests, we will have no further comment."

In Shoop's stead Michigan promoted a grad assistant. Your guess is as good as mine.

Two down. Wisconsin has canceled their game against Purdue:

Nov. 3 Update: https://t.co/ISNJ9K6fhZ pic.twitter.com/ujSUmKAjKo

— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 3, 2020

Michigan-Wisconsin is scheduled for next weekend. Most (all?) of the positive tests have come late enough that anyone who's caught it should be out for Michigan. Which means that's probably another cancellation. That would give us a window for a basketball preview podcast. So there's that.

Also: is Purdue winning the division? They've beaten Iowa and Illinois. Their crossover games are Rutgers and Indiana. Minnesota is a tire fire. Wisconsin is probably going to be ineligible for the title.

Paye's stories. Take all the refugees:

"I take it personal to make sure that she gets everything that she never had."

Michigan DL Kwity Paye is working to give back to his mother who sacrificed so much to give their family a better future.

( @goodyear) pic.twitter.com/OKbzl1Casp

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 31, 2020

Name and image takes from inside the machine. Andy Wittry has acquired internal NCAA memos about name and image legislation from 19 different conferences. The Big Ten's Delany-era take is the usual head-in-the-sand stuff:

The Big Ten’s memo, which it should be noted was sent during the reign of former commissioner Jim Delany, offered one idea that institutions and boosters should be “excluded from the equation altogether, at least during the recruiting process.” The suggestion stated that while colleges and universities could still offer a scholarship during the recruitment process, they couldn’t offer or provide any representation of what a prospective athlete could earn from his or her NIL rights at the school.

“Once an individual became a student, boosters could either remain off-limits in the context of N/I/L compensation,” the Big Ten’s memo stated, “or if they were permitted to be involved, compensation for use of N/I/L could occur only if it could be demonstrated that the student was being paid a defensible and appropriate market rate commensurate with the specific set of circumstances. In terms of enforceability, it seems such restrictions would be no more or less enforceable than current restrictions on offers and inducements provided by boosters and/or institutions.”

So not enforceable in any way. Oddly, the conference that seems to have the best grasp on reality is the Southern Conference:

“In the United States, the free market determines that,” the Southern Conference’s memo stated. “Institutions should follow the free market.”

Another bullet point from the Southern Conference said it would be “impossible” to fairly and accurately determine the market value of an athlete’s NIL.

“Would also create restriction of trade problems if we did this,” the bullet point read.

This is the Furman/Wofford/East Tennessee State/UNC-Greensboro mid-major conference. Their material situation isn't going to change much, which makes easier to state the obvious. Major conferences are mostly concerned that donations that they currently acquire will be redirected.

Chaundee Brown evaluated. Brendan Quinn on Brown:

Brown is a hybrid guard/forward with broad shoulders and a nose for the basket. He plays a powerful brand of basketball, attacking both as a rebounder and with the ball in his hands. He’s unlike any player on Michigan’s current roster. Neither a spot-up shooter like Livers, nor a fluid shot creator like Wagner, he instead likes to catch and drive, trying to score from the midrange or on conversions at the hoop. He is a capable 3-point shooter, but wouldn’t be labeled a pure shooter. And he’s a talented finisher, but isn’t considered overly athletic. What he is, is a player who gets things done and makes things happen. He draws free throws and hits them at an 83.0 percent clip. He scores from tough spots. He can rebound his own miss and outworks most others on any given possession.

Brown's not going to drive a ton of play but he'll defend, create extra shots, and attack when he has a positional advantage. He's efficient on offense, with a sub-15 TO rate on 20+ usage on teams that were deep in the 200s, along with the free throws. He is also okay from three. Expectations: GRIII minus the ability to jump out of the building.

Brown getting eligible is important for another reason: it gives Michigan a legitimate eight-man rotation:

1. Eli Brooks
2. Mike Smith
3. Franz Wagner
4. Chaundee Brown
5. Isaiah Livers
6. Brandon Johns
7. Austin Davis
8. Hunter Dickinson

Light on guards so you'll probably see Zeb Jackson poke his nose through as well.

Last year's team was very thin and suffered when Livers went out. This team just needs one freshman other than Dickinson to be playable and they'll be meaningfully deeper.

Michigan hockey… November? Freshman D Owen Power has been invited to Canada's WJC camp. Normally this means he'd be away for two weeks when Michigan's not playing. This year:

On Oct. 29, the freshman defenseman was announced as one of the 46 players invited to Canada’s National Junior Team Selection Camp. The camp will run from Nov. 16 through Dec. 13 in Red Deer, Alberta. If Power attends, the first month of his season — which begins the weekend of Nov. 13 — will effectively be wiped out.

Power is highly touted but he is in his draft year. It is extremely rare for draft-year prospects to make the Canadian WJC team. There were two (Alexis Lafreniere and Quinton Byfield) last year; before that it had been six years since Connor McDavid made it. Making the team is no guarantee. There are six first round picks amongst the defensemen in camp. Scott Wheeler has him on the team, but as an extra defenseman. That's the worst case: Power would be gone for almost two months and not even playing meaningful minutes.

So Mel Pearson might pull the plug. I was not aware he could do that, but according to Jack Kingsley of the Daily this is the situation:

“It’s not the ideal situation,” Pearson said. “I would like to let Owen experience it and go there, but at the same time, I’ve got to look at the overall picture and what’s right for Owen going forward, overall, not just for a two week camp that’s played at Christmas time, but for his overall growth and development and academic interest.”

He's also got classes. They're all online this year but that's a consideration.

FWIW, Wheeler has Beecher, Beniers, Brisson, Bordeleau, and York on the US team, with Bordeleau an "extra."

Etc.: Pearson considers his lines. Sounds like they expect Eric Ciccolini to take a leap. Does a 21-day COVID sitout make sense? There are six power conferences in basketball. Nate Silver dunks on Darren Rovell? IS THERE ANYONE IN THE WORLD MORE DUNKABLE THAN DARREN ROVELL?!