| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Sep 8 | 19 | 0-0 | 31 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 16 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4 | Oct 7 | 15 | 2-1 | 81 | 0 | W 20-7 vs #9 UCLA | |
| 5 | Oct 14 | 11 | 3-1 | 144 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 21 | 10 | 3-1 | 160 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Oct 28 | NR | 0 | 0 | L 43-0 at #11 California |
Note: Syracuse'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.