| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 18 | 19 | 0-0 | 386 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 5 | 19 | 1-0 | 467 | 0 | -- | ||
| 2 | Sep 10 | 25 | 1-1 | 95 | 0 | -- | ||
| 3 | Sep 17 | 24 | 2-1 | 143 | 0 | -- | ||
| 4 | Sep 24 | RV | 19 | 0 | -- | |||
| 5 | Oct 1 | RV | 15 | -- | ||||
| 6 | Oct 8 | RV | 10 | -- | ||||
| 8 | Oct 22 | RV | 3 | NR | ||||
| 9 | Oct 29 | RV | 8 | NR | ||||
| 12 | Nov 19 | RV | 6 | 0 | 25 | |||
| 13 | Nov 26 | RV | 4 | NR | ||||
| 14 | Dec 3 | RV | 9 | NR | ||||
| Final | Jan 9 | 24 | 9-4 | 183 | 0 | -- |
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.