| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 26 | 21 | 0-0 | 362 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 4 | 21 | 0-0 | 309 | 0 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 11 | RV | 25 | 0 | |||
| 3 | Sep 18 | RV | 7 | 0 | |||
| 4 | Sep 25 | RV | 4 | 0 | |||
| 6 | Oct 9 | RV | 2 | 0 | |||
| 7 | Oct 16 | RV | 12 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Oct 23 | RV | 31 | 0 | |||
| 9 | Oct 30 | 24 | 5-2 | 123 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Nov 6 | 21 | 6-2 | 279 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Nov 13 | 18 | 7-2 | 495 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Nov 20 | 11 | 8-2 | 923 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Nov 27 | 10 | 9-2 | 1026 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Dec 4 | 7 | 9-2 | 1125 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 2 | 11 | 9-3 | 907 | 0 | L 24-17 vs #6 Florida State (Blockbuster) |
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.