AP Polls
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Final | 1 | Alabama (9-0-0) | 1 | 26 | SEC | |
| 12 | Final | 2 | Ohio State (8-0-1) | 2 | 20 | Big Ten | |
| 12 | Final | 3 | Texas (9-1-0) | 4 | 1 | SWC | |
| 12 | Final | 4 | LSU (9-1-0) | 3 | 1 | 1 | SEC |
| 12 | Final | 5 | Ole Miss (8-1-0) | 5 | 1 | SEC | |
| 12 | Final | 6 | Minnesota (7-2-0) | 7 | 1 | Big Ten | |
| 12 | Final | 7 | Colorado (8-1-0) | 6 | 1 | Big 8 | |
| 12 | Final | 8 | Michigan State (7-2-0) | 8 | Big Ten | ||
| 12 | Final | 9 | Arkansas (8-2-0) | 9 | SWC | ||
| 12 | Final | 10 | Utah State (9-0-1) | Skyline | |||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 1 | Alabama (9-0-0) | 1 | 26 | SEC | |
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 2 | Ohio State (8-0-1) | 2 | 21 | Big Ten | |
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 3 | LSU (9-1-0) | 4 | 1 | 1 | SEC |
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 4 | Texas (9-1-0) | 5 | 1 | SWC | |
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 5 | Ole Miss (8-1-0) | 6 | 1 | 1 | SEC |
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 6 | Colorado (8-1-0) | 7 | 1 | Big 8 | |
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 7 | Minnesota (7-2-0) | 3 | 4 | Big Ten | |
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 8 | Michigan State (7-2-0) | 8 | Big Ten | ||
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 9 | Arkansas (8-2-0) | 9 | SWC | ||
| 11 | 1961-11-27 | 10 | Missouri (7-2-1) | Big 8 | |||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 1 | Alabama (9-0-0) | 2 | 1 | 39 | SEC |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 2 | Ohio State (7-0-1) | 3 | 1 | 6 | Big Ten |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 3 | Minnesota (7-1-0) | 5 | 2 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 4 | LSU (8-1-0) | 4 | 1 | SEC | |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 5 | Texas (8-1-0) | 1 | 4 | SWC | |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 6 | Ole Miss (8-1-0) | 6 | 1 | SEC | |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 7 | Colorado (7-1-0) | 8 | 1 | Big 8 | |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 8 | Michigan State (6-2-0) | 9 | 1 | Big Ten | |
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 9 | Arkansas (7-2-0) | SWC | |||
| 10 | 1961-11-20 | 10 | Kansas (6-2-1) | Big 8 | |||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 1 | Texas (8-0-0) | 1 | 41 | SWC | |
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 2 | Alabama (8-0-0) | 2 | 3 | SEC | |
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 3 | Ohio State (6-0-1) | 3 | 2 | Big Ten | |
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 4 | LSU (7-1-0) | 4 | 1 | SEC | |
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 5 | Minnesota (6-1-0) | 5 | Big Ten | ||
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 6 | Ole Miss (7-1-0) | 7 | 1 | SEC | |
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 7 | Purdue (5-2-0) | Big Ten | |||
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 8 | Colorado (6-1-0) | 8 | Big 8 | ||
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 9 | Michigan State (5-2-0) | 6 | 3 | Big Ten | |
| 9 | 1961-11-13 | 10 | Syracuse (6-2-0) | Ind | |||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 1 | Texas (7-0-0) | 3 | 2 | 35 | SWC |
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 2 | Alabama (7-0-0) | 4 | 2 | 6 | SEC |
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 3 | Ohio State (5-0-1) | 5 | 2 | 7 | Big Ten |
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 4 | LSU (6-1-0) | 6 | 2 | SEC | |
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 5 | Minnesota (5-1-0) | Big Ten | |||
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 6 | Michigan State (5-1-0) | 1 | 5 | Big Ten | |
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 7 | Ole Miss (6-1-0) | 2 | 5 | SEC | |
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 8 | Colorado (6-0-0) | 8 | Big 8 | ||
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 9 | Georgia Tech (6-1-0) | 7 | 2 | SEC | |
| 8 | 1961-11-06 | 10 | Missouri (5-1-1) | 10 | Big 8 | ||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 1 | Michigan State (5-0-0) | 1 | 31 | Big Ten | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 2 | Ole Miss (6-0-0) | 2 | 8 | SEC | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 3 | Texas (6-0-0) | 3 | 6 | SWC | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 4 | Alabama (6-0-0) | 4 | 2 | SEC | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 5 | Ohio State (4-0-1) | 6 | 1 | Big Ten | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 6 | LSU (5-1-0) | 7 | 1 | SEC | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 7 | Georgia Tech (5-1-0) | 9 | 2 | SEC | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 8 | Colorado (5-0-0) | 10 | 2 | Big 8 | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 9 | Iowa (4-1-0) | 5 | 4 | Big Ten | |
| 7 | 1961-10-30 | 10 | Missouri (5-0-1) | Big 8 | |||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 1 | Michigan State (4-0-0) | 1 | 29 | Big Ten | |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 2 | Ole Miss (5-0-0) | 2 | 11 | SEC | |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 3 | Texas (5-0-0) | 3 | 3 | SWC | |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 4 | Alabama (5-0-0) | 5 | 1 | 4 | SEC |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 5 | Iowa (4-0-0) | 4 | 1 | 1 | Big Ten |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 6 | Ohio State (3-0-1) | 7 | 1 | Big Ten | |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 7 | LSU (4-1-0) | 10 | 3 | SEC | |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 8 | Notre Dame (3-1-0) | 6 | 2 | Ind | |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 9 | Georgia Tech (4-1-0) | 8 | 1 | SEC | |
| 6 | 1961-10-23 | 10 | Colorado (4-0-0) | 9 | 1 | Big 8 | |
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 1 | Michigan State (3-0-0) | 5 | 4 | 16 | Big Ten |
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 2 | Ole Miss (4-0-0) | 1 | 1 | 21 | SEC |
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 3 | Texas (4-0-0) | 4 | 1 | 2 | SWC |
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 4 | Iowa (3-0-0) | 2 | 2 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 5 | Alabama (4-0-0) | 3 | 2 | 4 | SEC |
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 6 | Notre Dame (3-0-0) | 8 | 2 | 1 | Ind |
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 7 | Ohio State (2-0-1) | 7 | 1 | Big Ten | |
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 8 | Georgia Tech (3-1-0) | SEC | |||
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 9 | Colorado (3-0-0) | Big 8 | |||
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 10 | Arkansas (3-1-0) | SWC | |||
| 5 | 1961-10-16 | 10 | LSU (3-1-0) | SEC | |||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 1 | Ole Miss (3-0-0) | 2 | 1 | 24 | SEC |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 2 | Iowa (2-0-0) | 1 | 1 | 11 | Big Ten |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 3 | Alabama (3-0-0) | 4 | 1 | 4 | SEC |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 4 | Texas (3-0-0) | 5 | 1 | 3 | SWC |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 5 | Michigan State (2-0-0) | 6 | 1 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 6 | Michigan (2-0-0) | 9 | 3 | 2 | Big Ten |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 7 | Ohio State (1-0-1) | 8 | 1 | Big Ten | |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 8 | Notre Dame (2-0-0) | 1 | Ind | ||
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 9 | Baylor (2-0-0) | 10 | 1 | SWC | |
| 4 | 1961-10-09 | 10 | Maryland (3-0-0) | ACC | |||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 1 | Iowa (1-0-0) | 1 | 24 | Big Ten | |
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 2 | Ole Miss (2-0-0) | 2 | 16 | SEC | |
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 3 | Georgia Tech (2-0-0) | 7 | SEC | ||
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 4 | Alabama (2-0-0) | 4 | 1 | SEC | |
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 5 | Texas (2-0-0) | 6 | 1 | 2 | SWC |
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 6 | Michigan State (1-0-0) | 10 | 4 | 1 | Big Ten |
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 7 | Syracuse (2-0-0) | 5 | 2 | Ind | |
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 8 | Ohio State (0-0-1) | 3 | 5 | Big Ten | |
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 9 | Michigan (1-0-0) | Big Ten | |||
| 3 | 1961-10-02 | 10 | Baylor (2-0-0) | SWC | |||
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 1 | Iowa | 1 | 19 | Big Ten | |
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 2 | Ole Miss (1-0-0) | 9 | 7 | 12 | SEC |
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 3 | Ohio State | 2 | 1 | 7 | Big Ten |
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 4 | Alabama (1-0-0) | 3 | 1 | 6 | SEC |
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 5 | Syracuse (1-0-0) | 10 | 5 | Ind | |
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 6 | Texas (1-0-0) | 4 | 2 | 1 | SWC |
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 7 | Rice (1-0-0) | 2 | SWC | ||
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 8 | Penn State (1-0-0) | 7 | 1 | 2 | Ind |
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 9 | UCLA (1-0-0) | AAWU | |||
| 2 | 1961-09-25 | 10 | Michigan State | 6 | 4 | Big Ten | |
| Wk | Date | Rk | School | Prev | Chng | 1st | Conf |
| 1 | Preseason | 1 | Iowa | NA | — | 22 | Big Ten |
| 1 | Preseason | 2 | Ohio State | NA | — | 15 | Big Ten |
| 1 | Preseason | 3 | Alabama | NA | — | 3 | SEC |
| 1 | Preseason | 4 | Texas | NA | — | 1 | SWC |
| 1 | Preseason | 5 | LSU | NA | — | SEC | |
| 1 | Preseason | 6 | Michigan State | NA | — | Big Ten | |
| 1 | Preseason | 7 | Penn State | NA | — | 1 | Ind |
| 1 | Preseason | 8 | Kansas | NA | — | 1 | Big 8 |
| 1 | Preseason | 9 | Ole Miss | NA | — | 2 | SEC |
| 1 | Preseason | 10 | Syracuse | NA | — | Ind |
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