| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 6 | 14 | 0-0 | 751 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 1 | Aug 27 | 15 | 0-0 | 728 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 3 | 14 | 1-0 | 805 | 0 | -- | ||
| 3 | Sep 10 | 13 | 2-0 | 884 | 0 | -- | ||
| 4 | Sep 17 | 21 | 2-1 | 422 | 0 | -- | ||
| 5 | Sep 24 | 22 | 3-1 | 414 | 0 | -- | ||
| 6 | Oct 1 | NR | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| 7 | Oct 8 | 21 | 4-2 | 315 | 0 | -- | W 32-31 vs #6 Michigan | |
| 8 | Oct 15 | 17 | 5-2 | 586 | 0 | -- | ||
| 9 | Oct 22 | 16 | 6-2 | 688 | 0 | 15 | ||
| 10 | Oct 29 | 11 | 7-2 | 1017 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 11 | Nov 5 | 9 | 7-2 | 1196 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 12 | Nov 12 | 17 | 7-3 | 603 | 0 | 17 | NR | |
| 13 | Nov 19 | 14 | 8-3 | 778 | 0 | NR | ||
| 14 | Nov 26 | 14 | 8-3 | 785 | 0 | NR | ||
| 15 | Dec 3 | 14 | 8-3 | 810 | 0 | NR | ||
| Final | Jan 3 | 13 | 8-4 | 765 | 0 | -- | L 34-24 vs #4 Washington (Rose) |
Note: Purdue'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.