| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Sep 5 | 12 | 0-0 | 190 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 13 | 14 | 0-0 | 123 | 0 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 20 | 12 | 1-0 | 230 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Sep 27 | 9 | 2-0 | 316 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Oct 4 | 9 | 3-0 | 289 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Oct 11 | 9 | 4-0 | 387 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 18 | 7 | 5-0 | 479 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Oct 25 | 6 | 6-0 | 557 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Nov 1 | 6 | 7-0 | 595 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Nov 8 | 5 | 8-0 | 618 | 1 | ||
| 10 | Nov 15 | 6 | 9-0 | 635 | 1 | ||
| 11 | Nov 22 | 6 | 10-0 | 625 | 2 | ||
| 12 | Nov 29 | 5 | 10-0 | 740 | 1 | ||
| 13 | Dec 6 | 10 | 10-1 | 334 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 3 | 5 | 11-1 | 666 | 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.