| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | N/A | 16 | 0-0 | 63 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 8 | 17 | 0-0 | 71 | 0 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 15 | 17 | 0-0 | 56 | 0 | DNP | |
| 3 | Sep 22 | 15 | 1-0 | 79 | 0 | W 16-0 vs Pacific | |
| 4 | Sep 29 | 17 | 2-0 | 56 | 0 | W 14-0 at Wyoming | |
| 5 | Oct 6 | 17 | 3-0 | 116 | 0 | W 41-6 vs Northwestern | |
| 6 | Oct 13 | 13 | 4-0 | 134 | 0 | W 36-0 at UTEP | |
| 7 | Oct 20 | 13 | 5-0 | 178 | 0 | W 32-28 vs Texas Tech | |
| 8 | Oct 27 | 17 | 5-1 | 41 | 0 | L 44-34 vs New Mexico | |
| 9 | Nov 3 | 15 | 6-1 | 100 | 0 | W 36-20 at BYU | |
| 10 | Nov 10 | 12 | 7-1 | 206 | 0 | W 31-24 at San Diego State | |
| 11 | Nov 17 | 11 | 8-1 | 222 | 0 | W 31-9 at Colorado State | |
| 12 | Nov 24 | 12 | 9-1 | 242 | 0 | W 38-14 vs Utah | |
| 13 | Dec 1 | 15 | 9-2 | 66 | 0 | L 24-21 at Arizona State | |
| Final | Jan 2 | 18 | 9-2 | 58 | 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.