| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 15 | 3 | 0-0 | 1582 | 4 | -- | DNP | |
| 1 | Aug 30 | 2 | 1-0 | 1663 | 26 | -- | ||
| 2 | Sep 6 | 2 | 2-0 | 1691 | 26 | -- | ||
| 3 | Sep 12 | 3 | 3-0 | 1619 | 6 | -- | ||
| 4 | Sep 19 | 2 | 4-0 | 1658 | 7 | -- | ||
| 5 | Sep 26 | 2 | 5-0 | 1659 | 5 | -- | ||
| 6 | Oct 3 | 2 | 5-0 | 1672 | 5 | -- | ||
| 7 | Oct 10 | 2 | 6-0 | 1678 | 6 | -- | ||
| 8 | Oct 17 | 2 | 7-0 | 1678 | 6 | -- | ||
| 9 | Oct 24 | 2 | 8-0 | 1684 | 10 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Oct 31 | 2 | 9-0 | 1683 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 11 | Nov 7 | 6 | 9-1 | 1328 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 12 | Nov 14 | 13 | 9-2 | 923 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 13 | Nov 21 | 15 | 9-3 | 616 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 14 | Nov 28 | 14 | 9-3 | 717 | 0 | 13 | ||
| 15 | Dec 5 | 13 | 9-3 | 772 | 0 | 11 | ||
| Final | Jan 5 | 11 | 10-3 | 1038 | 0 | -- | W 24-0 vs #18 Texas A&M (Alamo) |
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.