| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Sep 6 | 7 | 0-0 | 308 | 1 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 14 | 7 | 0-0 | 316 | 1 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 21 | 4 | 1-0 | 453 | 2 | 3 | |
| 3 | Sep 28 | 16 | 1-1 | 60 | 0 | 17 | L 41-13 at #18 Colorado |
| 4 | Oct 5 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 10 | Nov 16 | 20 | 6-3 | 16 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Nov 23 | 17 | 7-3 | 40 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Nov 30 | 18 | 7-3 | 32 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Dec 7 | 18 | 7-3 | 30 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 5 | 18 | 7-3 | 17 | 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.