| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 4 | 7 | 3-0 | 392 | 2 | |
| 2 | Oct 11 | 5 | 4-0 | 398 | 0 | |
| 3 | Oct 18 | 4 | 5-0 | 613 | 1 | |
| 4 | Oct 25 | 4 | 6-0 | 598 | 1 | |
| 5 | Nov 1 | 2 | 7-0 | 726 | 0 | |
| 6 | Nov 8 | 2 | 8-0 | 570 | 0 | |
| 7 | Nov 15 | 3 | 8-0 | 585 | 0 | |
| 8 | Nov 22 | 4 | 9-0 | 548 | 0 | |
| Final | Nov 29 | 5 | 9-0 | 707 | 12 |
Note: Purdue'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.