| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 10 | 24 | 0-0 | 221 | 0 | 24 | -- | DNP |
| 1 | Aug 26 | 24 | 0-0 | 208 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 2 | NR | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| 4 | Sep 15 | 15 | 2-0 | 829 | 0 | -- | ||
| 5 | Sep 22 | 12 | 3-0 | 998 | 0 | -- | ||
| 6 | Sep 29 | 20 | 3-1 | 337 | 0 | -- | ||
| 7 | Oct 6 | 15 | 4-1 | 710 | 0 | -- | ||
| 8 | Oct 13 | 20 | 4-2 | 435 | 0 | -- | ||
| 9 | Oct 20 | 18 | 5-2 | 614 | 0 | NR | ||
| 10 | Oct 27 | 20 | 5-3 | 388 | 0 | NR | ||
| 11 | Nov 3 | 19 | 6-3 | 468 | 0 | NR | ||
| 12 | Nov 10 | 16 | 7-3 | 649 | 0 | 15 | ||
| 13 | Nov 17 | 15 | 8-3 | 755 | 0 | 15 | ||
| 14 | Nov 24 | 11 | 9-3 | 1019 | 0 | 14 | ||
| 15 | Dec 1 | 10 | 9-3 | 1070 | 0 | 13 | ||
| 16 | Dec 8 | 10 | 9-3 | 1107 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Final | Jan 4 | 16 | 9-4 | 675 | 0 | -- | L 13-9 vs #19 Auburn (Capital One) |
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.