| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 24 | 24 | 0-0 | 208 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 7 | 21 | 1-0 | 361 | 0 | -- | W 27-6 at Hawaii | |
| 2 | Sep 14 | 16 | 2-0 | 608 | 0 | -- | W 31-14 at Stanford | |
| 3 | Sep 21 | 16 | 3-0 | 684 | 0 | -- | W 35-11 vs Iowa | |
| 4 | Sep 28 | 14 | 4-0 | 823 | 0 | -- | W 35-16 at San Diego State | |
| 5 | Oct 5 | 10 | 5-0 | 1043 | 0 | -- | W 31-28 at #20 Washington | |
| 6 | Oct 12 | 16 | 5-1 | 673 | 0 | -- | L 52-28 vs UCLA | |
| 7 | Oct 19 | 14 | 6-1 | 800 | 0 | -- | W 28-7 at Oregon State | |
| 8 | Oct 26 | 13 | 7-1 | 887 | 0 | 14 | W 45-7 vs Louisiana-Monroe | |
| 9 | Nov 2 | 10 | 8-1 | 1120 | 0 | 10 | W 38-3 vs Oregon | |
| 10 | Nov 9 | 9 | 9-1 | 1189 | 0 | 10 | W 41-7 vs Washington State | |
| 11 | Nov 16 | 8 | 10-1 | 1262 | 0 | 8 | W 27-23 at California | |
| 12 | Nov 23 | 7 | 10-1 | 1326 | 0 | 7 | DNP | |
| 13 | Nov 30 | 6 | 11-1 | 1358 | 0 | 6 | W 50-42 vs Arizona State | |
| 14 | Dec 7 | 5 | 11-1 | 1412 | 0 | 7 | DNP | |
| Final | Jan 5 | 4 | 12-1 | 1535 | 0 | -- | W 23-20 vs #14 Nebraska (Holiday) |
Note: Arizona'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.