| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Sep 12 | 9 | 0-0 | 118 | 1 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 20 | 6 | 1-0 | 208 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Sep 27 | 2 | 2-0 | 381 | 14 | ||
| 3 | Oct 4 | 6 | 2-0-1 | 182 | 1 | ||
| 4 | Oct 11 | 7 | 3-0-1 | 187 | 1 | W 17-14 at Iowa | |
| 5 | Oct 18 | 6 | 4-0-1 | 239 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Oct 25 | 6 | 4-1-1 | 201 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Nov 1 | NR | 0 | 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.