| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | N/A | 5 | 0-0 | 550 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 11 | 6 | 0-0 | 473 | 1 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 18 | 11 | 0-1 | 180 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Sep 25 | 13 | 1-1 | 130 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Oct 2 | 16 | 2-1 | 97 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Oct 9 | 15 | 3-1 | 108 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 16 | 12 | 4-1 | 183 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Oct 23 | 11 | 5-1 | 218 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Oct 30 | 10 | 6-1 | 290 | 0 | W 28-19 at #18 West Virginia | |
| 9 | Nov 6 | 10 | 7-1 | 304 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Nov 13 | 6 | 8-1 | 450 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Nov 20 | 6 | 9-1 | 454 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Nov 27 | 5 | 10-1 | 563 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Dec 4 | 5 | 10-1 | 554 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 3 | 10 | 10-2 | 340 | 0 |
Note: Penn State'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.