| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 16 | 19 | 0-0 | 468 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 1 | 16 | 0-0 | 533 | 0 | -- | DNP | |
| 2 | Sep 7 | NR | 0 | 0 | -- | |||
| 3 | Sep 14 | 25 | 1-1 | 122 | 0 | -- | ||
| 4 | Sep 21 | 22 | 2-1 | 234 | 0 | -- | ||
| 5 | Sep 28 | 22 | 3-1 | 337 | 0 | -- | ||
| 6 | Oct 5 | 18 | 4-1 | 500 | 0 | -- | ||
| 7 | Oct 12 | 13 | 5-1 | 751 | 0 | -- | ||
| 8 | Oct 19 | 10 | 6-1 | 957 | 0 | 10 | 8 | W 26-23 at #14 Wisconsin |
| 9 | Oct 26 | 18 | 6-2 | 487 | 0 | 18 | ||
| 10 | Nov 2 | 16 | 7-2 | 623 | 0 | 14 | ||
| 11 | Nov 9 | 11 | 8-2 | 913 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 12 | Nov 16 | 16 | 8-3 | 683 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 13 | Nov 23 | 12 | 9-3 | 860 | 0 | 14 | ||
| 14 | Nov 30 | 11 | 9-3 | 893 | 0 | 13 | ||
| 15 | Dec 7 | 12 | 9-3 | 849 | 0 | 14 | ||
| Final | Jan 5 | 18 | 9-4 | 526 | 0 | -- | L 34-27 (1OT) vs #11 Georgia (Capital One) |
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.