| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | N/A | 20 | 0-0 | 175 | 0 | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 3 | 20 | 0-0 | 142 | 0 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 10 | 10 | 1-0 | 612 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Sep 17 | 12 | 1-0-1 | 487 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Sep 24 | 13 | 2-0-1 | 467 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Oct 1 | NR | 0 | 0 | |||
| 7 | Oct 15 | 18 | 4-1-1 | 182 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Oct 22 | 17 | 5-1-1 | 264 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Oct 29 | 15 | 6-1-1 | 394 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Nov 5 | 14 | 6-1-1 | 452 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Nov 12 | 13 | 7-1-1 | 494 | 0 | W 24-19 at Arizona | |
| 12 | Nov 19 | 8 | 8-1-1 | 720 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Nov 26 | 16 | 8-2-1 | 286 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Dec 3 | 14 | 8-2-1 | 410 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Dec 10 | 13 | 8-2-1 | 387 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 3 | 7 | 9-2-1 | 767 | 0 |
Note: UCLA'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.