Texas Longhorns' Arch Manning Misses Watch List For Own Family's Award

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning has received plenty of preseason accolades ahead of his debut as a full-time starter. The redshirt sophomore has been named to the preseason watch lists for the Davey O'Brien Award, Walter Camp Award, Maxwell Award and plenty more.

It speaks to the level of hype surrounding Manning, and the Longhorns as a whole really. Only time will tell if they live up to that hype, but right now, they're the talk of the town, or rather the sport.

However, of all the watch lists Manning could've missed out on, he did so with probably the most ironic one.

Arch Manning Misses Manning Award Watch List

Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) against the Clemson Tigers during the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

On Wednesday, the Sugar Bowl announced its preseason watch list for the Manning Award, which is awarded after the postseason to who voters believe to be the nation's best quarterback.

Despite the award obviously being named after his grandfather Archie Manning and uncles Peyton and Eli Manning, Arch was not among the 27 players named to the watch list.

For those keeping score at home, Arch Manning was not named to the 2025 Manning Award Preseason Watch List today. pic.twitter.com/BkaGemUxj6
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) August 14, 2025

The watch list seems to mainly include established players, with 21 of the 27 quarterbacks named being juniors or seniors. In fact, the press release even notes that "transfers and other newcomers at schools were not eligible." So from that perspective, leaving out Manning - who has started just two games and thrown less than 100 collegiate passes - makes some sense.

Still, the fact that Manning didn't make the watch list for an award that literally shares his last name is quite ironic. The good news is that a player doesn't need to be on the watch list to actually win the award, so Manning should still have a good shot if he plays up to his potential.

To Manning, though, missing out on an award watch list, even this one, likely won't affect his outlook.

“I think, Arch thinks about ‘What am I doing today to improve, to be the best teammate I can be when the game weeks roll around (and) what am I doing to prepare to put myself in the best position to perform,’” head coach Steve Sarkisian said.

“What I know is what I see every day, and he seems good to me… I just know what he’s capable of, so we just gotta keep tightening the screws to make sure he’s performing the way he’s capable of,” Sarkisian said. “As much as the hoopla has happened, we really haven’t gotten into the fire of real games, and dealing with that.”