| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 11 | 1 | 0-0 | 1566 | 21 | DNP | |
| 1 | Aug 25 | 1 | 0-0 | 1602 | 22 | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 2 | 1 | 0-0 | 1616 | 23 | DNP | |
| 3 | Sep 8 | 1 | 1-0 | 1620 | 22 | W 34-17 vs Pittsburgh | |
| 4 | Sep 15 | 1 | 2-0 | 1641 | 25 | W 52-10 vs Temple | |
| 5 | Sep 22 | 2 | 3-0 | 1675 | 28 | W 57-21 at Louisville | |
| 6 | Sep 29 | 2 | 3-0 | 1673 | 25 | ||
| 7 | Oct 6 | 2 | 4-0 | 1672 | 26 | ||
| 8 | Oct 13 | 1 | 5-0 | 1724 | 51 | W 31-27 vs #7 Ohio State | |
| 9 | Oct 20 | 2 | 6-0 | 1668 | 26 | W 16-15 vs Minnesota | |
| 10 | Oct 27 | 2 | 6-0 | 1665 | 25 | ||
| 11 | Nov 3 | 2 | 7-0 | 1643 | 16 | W 30-27 at Northwestern | |
| 12 | Nov 10 | 6 | 7-1 | 1342 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Nov 17 | 6 | 8-1 | 1401 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Nov 24 | 4 | 9-1 | 1497 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Dec 1 | 12 | 9-2 | 990 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Dec 8 | 11 | 9-2 | 994 | 0 | ||
| Final | Jan 3 | 16 | 9-3 | 706 | 0 | L 21-6 vs #6 Florida (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.