| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | CFP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 15 | RV | 160 | 0 | RV | -- | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 6 | RV | 122 | 0 | RV | -- | W 35-31 at Purdue | |
| 2 | Sep 11 | 22 | 2-0 | 271 | 0 | 23 | -- | W 46-10 vs Ohio |
| 3 | Sep 18 | 14 | 3-0 | 666 | 0 | 15 | -- | W 41-12 at Auburn |
| 4 | Sep 25 | 11 | 4-0 | 876 | 0 | 12 | -- | W 33-14 vs Central Michigan |
| 5 | Oct 2 | 10 | 5-0 | 959 | 0 | 10 | -- | W 17-7 vs Northwestern |
| 6 | Oct 9 | 10 | 5-0 | 974 | 0 | 10 | -- | DNP |
| 7 | Oct 16 | 16 | 5-1 | 629 | 0 | 16 | -- | L 41-17 at #5 Michigan |
| 8 | Oct 23 | 13 | 6-1 | 783 | 0 | 13 | -- | W 45-17 vs Minnesota |
| 9 | Oct 30 | 16 | 6-2 | 641 | 0 | 16 | 15 | L 44-31 vs #2 Ohio State |
| 10 | Nov 6 | 14 | 7-2 | 735 | 0 | 15 | 14 | W 45-14 at Indiana |
| 11 | Nov 13 | 11 | 8-2 | 882 | 0 | 12 | 11 | W 30-0 vs Maryland |
| 12 | Nov 20 | 11 | 9-2 | 994 | 0 | 10 | 11 | W 55-10 at Rutgers |
| 13 | Nov 27 | 8 | 10-2 | 1131 | 0 | 7 | 8 | W 35-16 vs Michigan State |
| 14 | Dec 4 | 9 | 10-2 | 1063 | 0 | 7 | 11 | DNP |
| Final | Jan 10 | 7 | 11-2 | 1200 | 0 | 7 | -- | W 35-21 vs #7 Utah (Rose) |
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.