| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | N/A | 5 | 0-0 | 858 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 10 | 7 | 0-0 | 823 | 0 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 17 | 6 | 1-0 | 947 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Sep 24 | 18 | 1-1 | 261 | 0 | L 27-14 vs Texas A&M | |
| 4 | Oct 1 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Oct 29 | 19 | 5-2 | 126 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Nov 5 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 11 | Nov 19 | 20 | 7-3 | 93 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Nov 26 | 19 | 7-3 | 114 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Dec 3 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| Final | Jan 3 | 20 | 8-4 | 168 | 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.