| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | N/A | 20 | 0-0 | 47 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 21 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2 | Sep 28 | 20 | 1-0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Oct 5 | 12 | 2-0 | 132 | 1 | ||
| 4 | Oct 12 | 8 | 3-0 | 386 | 2 | ||
| 5 | Oct 19 | 6 | 4-0 | 673 | 4 | ||
| 6 | Oct 26 | 5 | 5-0 | 994 | 11 | ||
| 7 | Nov 2 | 4 | 6-0 | 1374 | 14 | ||
| 8 | Nov 9 | 1 | 7-0 | 2325 | 111 | W 20-18 at #7 Penn State | |
| 9 | Nov 16 | 1 | 8-0 | 2145 | 126 | W 71-0 vs Colgate | |
| 10 | Nov 23 | 1 | 9-0 | 1602 | 121 | W 46-0 at Boston | |
| 11 | Nov 30 | 1 | 9-0 | 1492 | 95 | DNP | |
| Final | Dec 7 | 1 | 10-0 | 1768 | 134 | W 36-8 at #17 UCLA |
Note: Syracuse's ranking in the final 1961 poll has been changed to unranked after the original AP wire story and poll was revisited and confirmed across several newspapers.