| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 25 | 24 | 0-0 | 168 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 3 | 23 | 0-0 | 157 | 0 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 10 | 21 | 1-0 | 304 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Sep 17 | RV | 66 | 0 | |||
| 4 | Sep 23 | RV | 33 | 0 | |||
| 5 | Sep 30 | 24 | 2-1 | 107 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 7 | RV | 11 | 0 | |||
| 9 | Oct 28 | 23 | 5-2 | 156 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Nov 4 | 22 | 6-2 | 288 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Nov 11 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 12 | Nov 18 | 25 | 7-3 | 87 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Nov 25 | 23 | 8-3 | 155 | 0 | W 24-21 at USC | |
| 14 | Dec 2 | 22 | 8-3 | 195 | 0 | 23 | |
| Final | Jan 2 | 19 | 9-3 | 406 | 0 | W 6-3 vs Illinois (Sun) |
Note: UCLA'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.