| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | N/A | 17 | 0-0 | 76 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 9 | 17 | 0-0 | 62 | 0 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 16 | 17 | 1-0 | 90 | 0 | W 17-10 vs San Diego State | |
| 3 | Sep 23 | 15 | 2-0 | 135 | 0 | W 35-20 at Indiana | |
| 4 | Sep 30 | 12 | 3-0 | 210 | 0 | W 15-10 at New Mexico | |
| 5 | Oct 7 | 12 | 4-0 | 229 | 0 | W 42-13 vs UTEP | |
| 6 | Oct 14 | 9 | 5-0 | 394 | 0 | W 41-8 at Utah | |
| 7 | Oct 21 | 16 | 5-1 | 88 | 0 | L 17-8 at Texas Tech | |
| 8 | Oct 28 | NR | 5-2 | 0 | 0 | L 37-13 vs BYU | |
| 13 | Dec 2 | 19 | 9-2 | 20 | 0 | W 10-0 vs Arizona State | |
| Final | Jan 2 | NR | 9-2 | 0 | 0 | DNP |
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.