| Week | Date | Rank | Rec | Points | FPV | CP | BCS | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Sep 9 | 22 | 2-0 | 250 | 0 | 23 | -- | W 36-30 vs #16 Nebraska |
| 3 | Sep 16 | 19 | 3-0 | 429 | 0 | 19 | -- | W 37-6 vs Houston |
| 4 | Sep 23 | RV | 3-1 | 79 | 0 | RV | -- | L 27-20 vs Oregon State |
| 5 | Sep 30 | 25 | 4-1 | 122 | 0 | RV | -- | W 42-14 at Colorado |
| 6 | Oct 7 | NR | 4-2 | 0 | 0 | NR | -- | L 43-17 at California |
| 7 | Oct 14 | NR | 5-2 | 0 | 0 | RV | NR | W 21-14 vs Utah |
| 8 | Oct 21 | RV | 5-2 | 7 | 0 | RV | NR | DNP |
| 9 | Oct 28 | 25 | 6-2 | 103 | 0 | RV | NR | W 45-43 at Arizona State |
| 10 | Nov 4 | 17 | 7-2 | 446 | 0 | 19 | 18 | W 66-10 vs #24 Arizona |
| 11 | Nov 11 | 17 | 8-2 | 541 | 0 | 16 | 17 | W 44-36 at Washington State |
| 12 | Nov 18 | 15 | 9-2 | 624 | 0 | 16 | 17 | W 38-28 vs #21 USC |
| 13 | Nov 25 | 17 | 9-3 | 505 | 0 | 16 | 16 | L 35-17 vs #11 Stanford |
| 14 | Dec 2 | 17 | 9-4 | 440 | 0 | 19 | 17 | L 27-24 at #8 Stanford (Pac-12 CG) |
| Final | Jan 8 | RV | 9-5 | 31 | 0 | RV | -- | L 49-26 vs Baylor (Holiday) |
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.