| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 14 | 24 | 0-0 | 153 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 5 | 25 | 0-0 | 131 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 12 | 18 | 2-0 | 557 | 0 | -- | ||
| 3 | Sep 19 | 15 | 2-0 | 652 | 0 | -- | ||
| 4 | Sep 26 | 15 | 3-0 | 669 | 0 | -- | ||
| 5 | Oct 3 | 9 | 4-0 | 1047 | 0 | -- | ||
| 6 | Oct 10 | 5 | 5-0 | 1241 | 0 | -- | ||
| 7 | Oct 17 | 12 | 5-1 | 957 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 8 | Oct 24 | 17 | 5-2 | 553 | 0 | 21 | ||
| 9 | Oct 31 | NR | 0 | 0 | NR |
Note: Purdue'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.