| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | CFP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Sep 18 | NR | 0 | 0 | RV | -- | W 49-20 vs North Carolina A&T | |
| 5 | Oct 2 | NR | 0 | 0 | RV | -- | W 38-17 vs Virginia | |
| 11 | Nov 13 | RV | 16 | 0 | RV | NR | W 24-7 vs Virginia Tech | |
| 13 | Nov 27 | NR | 0 | 0 | RV | NR | W 34-31 vs Wake Forest | |
| 14 | Dec 4 | NR | 0 | 0 | RV | NR | DNP | |
| Final | Jan 10 | RV | 49 | 0 | RV | -- | W 30-13 vs UCF (Military) |
Note: Duke'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.