The 2026 Heisman Trophy market has grown to roughly $9.7M in cumulative volume on Kalshi, up from $6.3M two weeks ago, and the top of the 28-name board tightened rather than separated over that stretch. CJ Carr, Darian Mensah, Arch Manning, Dante Moore, and Trinidad Chambliss make up the front group, and none of them has pulled clear. The live board above ranks the current price on every contender. Week 0 is in the books, opening weekend runs September 3 through September 7, 2026, and the award resolves when the Heisman is presented in December 2026 to the most outstanding player in college football.
The 2026 Heisman Trophy board added roughly $3.4M in volume over the past two weeks and still has no favorite worth the name. Kalshi prices 28 named contenders across $9.7M in cumulative volume, and the front of the field is a cluster rather than a chalk: as of August 31, 2026, CJ Carr holds the shortest price at 12c, with Darian Mensah and Arch Manning level at 10c, Dante Moore at 9c, and Trinidad Chambliss at 8c. The live board above ranks every contender by current price. Week 0 came and went on August 29 with exactly one priced contender on the field, and the season's real opening weekend runs September 3 through September 7, which is where a preseason board finally meets production.
CJ Carr leads on the strength of a first season as Notre Dame's starter: 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 66.6% completions, and an 82.7 QBR. The complication is that Notre Dame finished 10-2 and played no postseason game, so Carr's entire 2025 case was built in twelve regular-season starts with no January stage to extend it. The Irish open against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field on September 6, 2026, a neutral-site national window worth more to a ballot case than the same opponent in South Bend would be.
Darian Mensah is the board's biggest mover since the last review, repriced from 8c to 10c and now carrying more lifetime money than any other single contract here at roughly $677K. He left Duke for Miami in January after settling an NIL dispute with the Blue Devils, arriving off a 3,973-yard, 34-touchdown season on 66.8% completions that ended with an ACC championship win over Virginia and a playoff win over Arizona State. Miami opens at Stanford on September 5, which is the first read on whether that production travels to a new offense alongside receiver Malachi Toney. Arch Manning trades level with him after a 2025 that produced 3,163 yards, 26 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 399 rushing yards, and 10 rushing touchdowns on 61.4% completions for a 10-3 Texas team. Manning is the one contender whose price is anchored to national attention rather than to efficiency, and Texas hosts Texas State on September 5 before the schedule turns serious.
Dante Moore has moved into the top five since the board was last reviewed. He turned down a projected top-of-the-first-round NFL draft slot to return to Oregon after 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns on 71.8% completions, and the Ducks host Boise State on September 5. Trinidad Chambliss is the most complete dual-threat case in the field: 3,937 passing yards and 22 touchdowns against 3 interceptions, plus 527 rushing yards and 8 rushing touchdowns, for an 86.5 QBR that was the best mark among the front group. Ole Miss plays Louisville at Nissan Stadium on September 6. Julian Sayin is the most efficient passer priced on this board, with 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns, and a 77.0% completion rate that produced an 88.4 QBR, and Ohio State opens against Ball State on September 5.
Jayden Maiava is the only priced contender who has already played. He went 25 of 29 for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns in USC's 42-26 Week 0 win over San Jose State on August 29, an 86.2% completion night against a Mountain West opponent that has not moved him off 4c. The board's most interesting price sits a cent above him: Keelon Russell at Alabama carries roughly $604K in lifetime volume, second-most of any contract on the board, on the back of 15 pass attempts in 2025. That is the largest bet here on a player the market has barely seen throw.
The structural read has not changed. 23 of the 28 priced contenders are quarterbacks, and the two receivers and three running backs carry the discount the voting history earns. Jeremiah Smith caught 87 passes for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025 and still trades behind five quarterbacks, and DeVonta Smith in 2020 remains the only wide receiver to win the award since Desmond Howard in 1991. The running back cases are Ahmad Hardy at Missouri and Kewan Lacy at Ole Miss, off seasons of 1,649 and 1,567 rushing yards. Two names in the tail changed addresses in the offseason and are easy to misplace: Josh Hoover is now at Indiana after leaving TCU, and Drew Mestemaker is at Oklahoma State after leaving North Texas. Whether any of the tail holds its price depends on College Football Playoff qualification as much as on individual production.
The 2026 Heisman Trophy market resolves to the player who wins the Heisman Memorial Trophy for the 2026 college football season, presented at the annual award ceremony in New York in December 2026. The winner is determined by a vote of media members and former Heisman winners, with ballots cast after the regular season and conference championship games. The winning player's contract pays out while every other contender resolves to zero. The market's listed settlement date carries to January 1, 2027 as a buffer, but the outcome is fixed the moment the Heisman is announced.
The 2026 Heisman race runs alongside the College Football National Champion 2026-27 odds, the deepest board in the sport, and the College Football Conference Champion futures, where the team outcomes that build a Heisman case are priced directly. For the sideline award on the same season, the College Football Coach of the Year market tracks the coaching vote. The NCAA football markets hub collects every active college board, and the sports prediction markets hub covers every league.
Resolves to the player who wins the Heisman Memorial Trophy for the 2026 college football season, presented at the annual ceremony in New York in December 2026 following the regular season and conference championship games. The winner is determined by a vote of media members across six geographic regions plus former Heisman winners and a single fan vote, tabulated into a points total. The winning player's contract pays $1 per share; all other contender contracts resolve to $0. The listed market settlement date carries to January 1, 2027 as a buffer, but the outcome is fixed at the Heisman announcement. If co-winners are named, the market resolves per the platform's tie rules.
The live board above ranks current prices on all 28 contenders on Kalshi across roughly $9.7M in cumulative volume. CJ Carr holds the shortest price, Darian Mensah and Arch Manning trade level behind him, and Dante Moore and Trinidad Chambliss sit a step back in a top tier separated by a few cents.
The award is presented at the Heisman ceremony in New York in December 2026, after the regular season and conference championship games. The market carries a settlement buffer to January 1, 2027, but the outcome is fixed at the announcement.
The 2026 Heisman Trophy market trades on Kalshi, which lists each of the 28 contenders as a separate contract. Polymarket does not carry the award, so this board is single-book, and the live board above ranks the full Kalshi field by current price.
As of August 31, 2026, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr is the narrow favorite at 12c, with Miami transfer Darian Mensah and Texas quarterback Arch Manning tied at 10c and Oregon's Dante Moore at 9c. That ordering reflects one week of football and the live board above carries the current ranking.
Opening weekend from September 3 to September 7, 2026 is the first broad repricing, with Notre Dame facing Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, Miami at Stanford, and Ole Miss meeting Louisville at Nissan Stadium. After that, watch health above all, then signature games against ranked opponents, then whether the two receivers and three running backs on the board can survive the voting bias against them.