| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 4 | NR | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | RV | -- | W 24-17 (1OT) vs Toledo |
| 2 | Sep 9 | 24 | 2-0 | 149 | 0 | 25 | -- | W 59-38 vs #18 Oklahoma State |
| 3 | Sep 16 | 22 | 3-0 | 296 | 0 | 21 | -- | W 56-0 vs South Carolina State |
| 4 | Sep 23 | RV | 3-1 | 17 | 0 | RV | -- | L 49-0 at #3 Oregon |
| 5 | Sep 30 | RV | 3-2 | 4 | 0 | NR | -- | L 38-35 vs #18 Oregon State |
| 6 | Oct 7 | RV | 3-3 | 4 | 0 | NR | -- | L 54-48 (1OT) at #18 Stanford |
| 7 | Oct 14 | RV | 3-3 | 1 | 0 | NR | NR | DNP |
| 8 | Oct 21 | RV | 4-3 | 7 | 0 | NR | NR | W 52-17 vs Washington |
| 9 | Oct 28 | 24 | 5-3 | 106 | 0 | RV | 22 | W 39-36 vs #10 USC |
| 10 | Nov 4 | RV | 5-4 | 5 | 0 | NR | NR | L 66-10 at UCLA |
| 11 | Nov 11 | RV | 6-4 | 6 | 0 | NR | NR | W 56-31 vs Colorado |
| 12 | Nov 18 | RV | 7-4 | 13 | 0 | RV | 24 | W 34-24 at Utah |
| 13 | Nov 25 | RV | 7-5 | 4 | 0 | RV | NR | L 41-34 vs Arizona State |
| 14 | Dec 2 | NR | 7-5 | 0 | 0 | NR | NR | DNP |
| Final | Jan 8 | NR | 8-5 | 0 | 0 | RV | -- | W 49-48 vs Nevada (New Mexico) |
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.