| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Sep 29 | 14 | 1-0 | 101 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Oct 6 | 13 | 2-0 | 93 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Oct 13 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 5 | Oct 20 | 15 | 3-1 | 62 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 27 | 10 | 4-1 | 292 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Nov 3 | 8 | 5-1 | 465 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Nov 10 | 8 | 5-1-1 | 289 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Nov 17 | 8 | 6-1-1 | 630 | 8 | ||
| 10 | Nov 24 | 11 | 6-1-2 | 254 | 0 | ||
| Final | Dec 1 | 13 | 6-1-2 | 196 | 0 |
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.