| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 22 | RV | 0-0 | 13 | 0 | NR | -- | DNP |
| 1 | Sep 8 | RV | 12 | 0 | NR | -- | ||
| 2 | Sep 13 | RV | 4 | 0 | -- | |||
| 5 | Oct 4 | RV | 2 | 0 | NR | -- | ||
| 6 | Oct 11 | RV | 5 | 0 | -- | |||
| 7 | Oct 18 | RV | 25 | 0 | 22 | |||
| 8 | Oct 25 | 23 | 5-2 | 164 | 0 | 24 | 20 | W 27-13 vs UCLA |
| 9 | Nov 1 | 21 | 5-2 | 322 | 0 | 19 | 18 | DNP |
| 10 | Nov 8 | 18 | 6-2 | 476 | 0 | 19 | 17 | W 48-7 vs Washington State |
| 11 | Nov 15 | RV | 6-3 | 50 | 0 | RV | NR | L 24-16 at California |
| 12 | Nov 22 | RV | 6-4 | 1 | 0 | RV | NR | L 44-41 (2OT) vs #11 Oregon |
| 13 | Nov 29 | RV | 7-4 | 20 | 0 | RV | NR | W 20-17 at Arizona State |
| 14 | Dec 6 | 22 | 8-4 | 323 | 0 | 23 | 20 | W 21-17 at #20 USC |
| Final | Jan 8 | RV | 8-5 | 5 | 0 | RV | -- | L 33-0 vs #20 Nebraska (Holiday) |
Note: Arizona'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.