AUSTIN, Texas — The 2025 college football season doesn’t kick off for another seven months, but that isn’t preventing oddsmakers from prognosticating ahead to what might happen once the season rolls around.
And perhaps to the surprise of no one, the Texas Longhorns’ new starting quarterback is expected to be one of the sport’s biggest stars.
Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning has opened as the odds-on favorite to win the 2025 Heisman Trophy, according to odds released by ESPN BET on Friday. Sitting at +750, or 7.5-to-1 odds, Manning just edges out LSU starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, whose odds sit at +800 or 8-to-1.
The odds mean placing a $100 bet on Manning would win $750, or anything proportional (such as wagering $20 would win $150), which represents the smallest payout a better could win.
The top five players in the early Heisman odds are all quarterbacks. Immediately behind Manning and Nussmeier is Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava, who sits at +1100. Austin native and Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik follows, sitting at +1200 odds, which is tied with Penn State’s Drew Allar. Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has the highest odds for a non-quarterback, with +1500, or 15-to-1, odds.
As a redshirt sophomore, Manning is entering his first season as the Longhorns starter after spending two years behind Quinn Ewers, who’s leaving the program after declaring for April’s NFL draft. If he were to win the Heisman Trophy, he would be the first member of his family to do so- an incredible feat considering he is the nephew of NFL legends Peyton and Eli Manning and grandson of longtime NFL quarterback Archie Manning.
The hype surrounding Manning mirrors similar hype surrounding the Longhorns team as a whole.
Currently, the Burnt Orange have the second-highest odds to win next season’s national championship, with +500 odds. The only team ahead of them? Ohio State, the reigning national champions who ended the Longhorns season and who they will face in Week 1, who sit at +450 odds.