| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | CFP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Sep 22 | NR | 0 | 0 | RV | -- | W 45-17 at Middle Tennessee | |
| 5 | Sep 29 | NR | 0 | 0 | RV | -- | W 21-20 vs North Carolina | |
| 8 | Oct 20 | RV | 2 | 0 | RV | -- | W 23-16 vs Florida State | |
| 9 | Oct 27 | NR | 0 | 0 | RV | -- | L 28-27 (1OT) vs #22 SMU | |
| 11 | Nov 10 | NR | 0 | 0 | RV | NR | W 29-19 at NC State | |
| 12 | Nov 17 | RV | 2 | 0 | RV | NR | DNP | |
| 13 | Nov 24 | RV | 6 | 0 | RV | NR | W 31-28 vs Virginia Tech | |
| 14 | Dec 1 | RV | 30 | 0 | RV | NR | W 23-17 at Wake Forest | |
| 15 | Dec 8 | RV | 29 | 0 | RV | NR | DNP |
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.