| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 18 | RV | 128 | -- | ||||
| 1 | Sep 4 | RV | 116 | -- | ||||
| 2 | Sep 9 | RV | 144 | -- | ||||
| 3 | Sep 16 | 25 | 3-0 | 228 | 0 | 25 | -- | |
| 4 | Sep 23 | 20 | 4-0 | 401 | 0 | 20 | -- | |
| 5 | Sep 30 | 17 | 4-0 | 561 | 0 | 17 | -- | |
| 6 | Oct 7 | 11 | 5-0 | 966 | 0 | 11 | -- | |
| 7 | Oct 14 | 15 | 5-1 | 664 | 0 | 17 | 16 | |
| 8 | Oct 21 | 13 | 6-1 | 925 | 0 | 13 | 13 | |
| 9 | Oct 28 | 9 | 7-1 | 1121 | 0 | 9 | 9 | |
| 10 | Nov 4 | 7 | 8-1 | 1260 | 0 | 7 | 6 | |
| 11 | Nov 11 | 6 | 9-1 | 1336 | 0 | 6 | 5 | |
| 12 | Nov 18 | 3 | 10-1 | 1469 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| 13 | Nov 25 | 1 | 11-1 | 1604 | 45 | 2 | 1 | W 36-28 vs #2 Kansas |
| 14 | Dec 2 | 7 | 11-2 | 1195 | 0 | 7 | 6 | L 38-17 vs #9 Oklahoma (Big 12 CG) |
| Final | Jan 8 | 4 | 12-2 | 1347 | 0 | 5 | -- | W 38-7 vs #25 Arkansas (Cotton) |
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.