| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | N/A | 18 | 0-0 | 319 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 5 | 20 | 1-0 | 396 | 0 | W 19-3 vs Stanford | |
| 2 | Sep 12 | NR | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | L 24-14 at Texas Tech | |
| 3 | Sep 19 | 23 | 2-1 | 236 | 0 | W 6-3 vs Oklahoma | |
| 4 | Sep 26 | 17 | 3-1 | 495 | 0 | W 20-17 vs Washington | |
| 5 | Oct 3 | NR | 3-2 | 0 | 0 | L 16-10 at Oregon | |
| 7 | Oct 17 | 22 | 4-2 | 245 | 0 | W 42-7 vs UCLA | |
| 8 | Oct 24 | 17 | 5-2 | 535 | 0 | W 23-21 at Washington State | |
| 9 | Oct 31 | 15 | 6-2 | 638 | 0 | W 38-14 vs Pacific | |
| 10 | Nov 7 | 25 | 6-3 | 124 | 0 | L 29-28 at California | |
| 11 | Nov 14 | NR | 6-4 | 0 | 0 | L 24-3 vs USC | |
| Final | Jan 2 | 25 | 8-4 | 69 | 0 | W 17-10 vs NC State (Copper) |
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.