| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 11 | 11 | 1-0 | 516 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Sep 18 | 17 | 1-1 | 259 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Sep 25 | 14 | 2-1 | 446 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Oct 2 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 5 | Oct 9 | 19 | 3-2 | 110 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 16 | 13 | 4-2 | 343 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Oct 23 | 13 | 5-2 | 456 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Oct 30 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 11 | Nov 20 | 19 | 7-4 | 140 | 0 | W 35-31 at #2 Nebraska | |
| 12 | Nov 27 | 18 | 7-4 | 200 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Dec 4 | 18 | 7-4 | 173 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 2 | 15 | 8-4 | 434 | 0 |
Note: Missouri'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.