| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 26 | RV | 0-0 | 97 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 4 | RV | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2 | Sep 11 | RV | 2 | 0 | |||
| 3 | Sep 18 | RV | 23 | 0 | |||
| 4 | Sep 25 | RV | 14 | 0 | |||
| 5 | Oct 2 | RV | 11 | 0 | |||
| 6 | Oct 9 | RV | 16 | 0 | |||
| 9 | Oct 30 | RV | 1 | 0 | |||
| 10 | Nov 6 | RV | 17 | 0 | |||
| 12 | Nov 20 | RV | 2 | 0 |
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.