| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 17 | 16 | 0-0 | 598 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Aug 31 | 17 | 0-0 | 584 | 0 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 7 | 15 | 1-0 | 708 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Sep 14 | 14 | 2-0 | 752 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Sep 21 | 9 | 3-0 | 986 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Sep 28 | 9 | 4-0 | 1058 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 5 | 8 | 5-0 | 1091 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Oct 12 | 7 | 5-0 | 1163 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Oct 19 | 14 | 5-1 | 752 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Oct 26 | 12 | 5-1 | 806 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Nov 2 | 19 | 5-2 | 450 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Nov 9 | 16 | 6-2 | 623 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Nov 16 | 14 | 7-2 | 737 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Nov 23 | 14 | 8-2 | 739 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Nov 30 | 13 | 9-2 | 810 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Dec 7 | 13 | 9-2 | 808 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 3 | 8 | 10-2 | 1074 | 0 | W 31-13 vs #6 Tennessee (Citrus) |
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.