| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 25 | 8 | 0-0 | 1122 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 1 | 8 | 0-0 | 1125 | 1 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 8 | 10 | 1-0 | 939 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Sep 15 | 10 | 2-0 | 977 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Sep 22 | 9 | 3-0 | 1126 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Sep 29 | 8 | 4-0 | 1127 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 6 | 7 | 5-0 | 1217 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Oct 13 | 9 | 5-1 | 1033 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Oct 20 | 14 | 5-2 | 686 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Oct 27 | 14 | 6-2 | 727 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Nov 3 | 23 | 6-3 | 211 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Nov 10 | 22 | 6-3 | 280 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Nov 17 | 23 | 6-4 | 146 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Nov 24 | 22 | 7-4 | 282 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Dec 1 | 21 | 7-4 | 293 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Dec 8 | 21 | 7-4 | 272 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 2 | NR | 0 | 0 | L 24-3 vs #13 Stanford (Blockbuster) |
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.