| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | CFP | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | Aug 14 | RV | 66 | 0 | RV | -- | DNP | |
| 1 | Sep 5 | RV | 55 | 0 | RV | -- | W 27-13 vs Coastal Carolina | |
| 2 | Sep 10 | 24 | 2-0 | 107 | 0 | 25 | -- | W 35-10 at San Diego State |
| 3 | Sep 17 | 22 | 3-0 | 204 | 0 | 25 | -- | W 59-7 vs North Carolina Central |
| 4 | Sep 24 | RV | 28 | 0 | RV | -- | L 14-7 at #11 Utah | |
| 5 | Oct 1 | RV | 19 | 0 | RV | -- | DNP | |
| 6 | Oct 8 | 18 | 4-1 | 438 | 0 | 22 | -- | W 25-17 vs #13 Washington State |
| 7 | Oct 15 | 25 | 4-2 | 122 | 0 | 25 | -- | L 36-24 at #15 Oregon State |
| 8 | Oct 22 | 23 | 5-2 | 243 | 0 | 24 | -- | W 42-7 at Stanford |
| 9 | Oct 29 | 20 | 6-2 | 331 | 0 | 20 | 19 | W 28-16 vs Colorado |
| 10 | Nov 5 | RV | 11 | 0 | RV | NR | L 27-10 at Arizona | |
| 12 | Nov 19 | RV | 1 | 0 | RV | NR | W 38-20 at USC | |
| Final | Jan 9 | RV | 4 | 0 | -- | W 35-22 vs Boise State (LA) |
Note: UCLA'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.