1961 major college football rankings

Two human polls comprised the 1961 major college football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.

1961 major college football rankings
Season	1961
Bowl season	1961–62 bowl games
Preseason No. 1	Iowa
End of season champions	Alabama
major college football rankings ← 1960 1962 →

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		National champion
(#–#)		Win–loss record
(Italics)		Number of first place votes
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

AP poll

The final AP poll was released on December 5, at the end of the regular season, weeks before the bowls.^[1] Starting in the 1961 season and until the 1967 season, the AP poll ranked only 10 teams.

	Preseason Aug[2]	Week 1 Sep 25[3]	Week 2 Oct 2[4]	Week 3 Oct 9[5]	Week 4 Oct 16[6]	Week 5 Oct 23[7]	Week 6 Oct 30[8]	Week 7 Nov 6[9]	Week 8 Nov 13[10]	Week 9 Nov 20[11]	Week 10 Nov 27[12]	Week 11 (Final) Dec 5[13]
1.	Iowa (22)	Iowa (0–0) (19)	Iowa (1–0) (24)	Ole Miss (3–0) (24)	Michigan State (3–0) (16)	Michigan State (4–0) (29)	Michigan State (5–0) (31)	Texas (7–0) (35)	Texas (8–0) (41)	Alabama (9–0) (39)	Alabama (9–0) (26)	Alabama (10–0) (26)	1.
2.	Ohio State (15)	Ole Miss (1–0) (12)	Ole Miss (2–0) (16)	Iowa (2–0) (11)	Ole Miss (4–0) (21)	Ole Miss (5–0) (11)	Ole Miss (6–0) (8)	Alabama (7–0) (6)	Alabama (8–0) (3)	Ohio State (7–0–1) (6)	Ohio State (8–0–1) (21)	Ohio State (8–0–1) (20)	2.
3.	Alabama (3)	Ohio State (0–0) (7)	Georgia Tech (2–0) (7)	Alabama (3–0) (4)	Texas (4–0) (2)	Texas (5–0) (3)	Texas (6–0) (6)	Ohio State (5–0–1) (7)	Ohio State (6–0–1) (2)	Minnesota (7–1) (2)	LSU (9–1) (1)	Texas (9–1)	3.
4.	Texas (1)	Alabama (1–0) (6)	Alabama (2–0) (1)	Texas (3–0) (3)	Iowa (3–0) (2)	Alabama (5–0) (4)	Alabama (6–0) (2)	LSU (6–1)	LSU (7–1) (1)	LSU (8–1) (1)	Texas (9–1)	LSU (9–1) (1)	4.
5.	LSU	Syracuse (1–0)	Texas (2–0) (2)	Michigan State (2–0) (2)	Alabama (4–0) (4)	Iowa (4–0) (1)	Ohio State (4–0–1)	Minnesota (5–1)	Minnesota (6–1)	Texas (8–1)	Ole Miss (8–1) (1)	Ole Miss (9–1) (1)	5.
6.	Michigan State	Texas (1–0) (1)	Michigan State (1–0) (1)	Michigan (2–0) (2)	Notre Dame (3–0) (1)	Ohio State (3–0–1)	LSU (5–1)	Michigan State (5–1)	Ole Miss (7–1)	Ole Miss (8–1) (1)	Colorado (8–1)	Minnesota (7–2)	6.
7.	Penn State (1)	Rice (0–0) (2)	Syracuse (2–0)	Ohio State (1–0–1)	Ohio State (2–0–1) (1)	LSU (4–1)	Georgia Tech (5–1)	Ole Miss (6–1)	Purdue (5–2)	Colorado (7–1)	Minnesota (7–2)	Colorado (9–1)	7.
8.	Kansas (1)	Penn State (1–0) (2)	Ohio State (0–0–1)	Notre Dame (2–0) (1)	Georgia Tech (3–1)	Notre Dame (3–1)	Colorado (5–0)	Colorado (6–0)	Colorado (6–1)	Michigan State (6–2)	Michigan State (7–2)	Michigan State (7–2)	8.
9.	Ole Miss (2)	UCLA (1–0)	Michigan (1–0)	Baylor (2–0)	Colorado (3–0)	Georgia Tech (4–1)	Iowa (4–1)	Georgia Tech (6–1)	Michigan State (5–2)	Arkansas (7–2)	Arkansas (8–2)	Arkansas (8–2)	9.
10.	Syracuse	Michigan State (0–0)	Baylor (1–0)	Maryland (3–0)	Arkansas (3–1) т	Colorado (4–0)	Missouri (5–0–1)	Missouri (5–1–1)	Syracuse (6–2)	Kansas (6–2–1)	Missouri (7–2–1)	Utah State (9–0–1)	10.
	Preseason Aug[14]	Week 1 Sep 25[15]	Week 2 Oct 2[16]	Week 3 Oct 9[17]	Week 4 Oct 16[18]	Week 5 Oct 23[19]	Week 6 Oct 30[20]	Week 7 Nov 6[21]	Week 8 Nov 13[22]	Week 9 Nov 20[23]	Week 10 Nov 27[24]	Week 11 (Final) Dec 5[25]
		Dropped: Kansas LSU	Dropped: UCLA Penn State Rice	Dropped: Georgia Tech Syracuse	Dropped: Baylor Maryland Michigan	Dropped: Arkansas	Dropped: Notre Dame	Dropped: Iowa	Dropped: Georgia Tech Missouri	Dropped: Purdue Syracuse	Dropped: Kansas	Dropped: Missouri

Final Coaches Poll

The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on December 5.^[26]
Alabama received 18 of the 35 first-place votes; Ohio State received fifteen, Ole Miss one, and Colorado one.

Ranking	Team	Conference	Bowl
1	Alabama	SEC	Won Sugar, 10–3
2	Ohio State	Big Ten	none
3	LSU	SEC	Won Orange, 25–7
4	Texas	Southwest	Won Cotton, 12–7
5	Ole Miss	SEC	Lost Cotton, 7–12
6	Minnesota	Big Ten	Won Rose, 21–3
7	Colorado	Big Eight	Lost Orange, 7–25
8	Arkansas	Southwest	Lost Sugar, 3–10
9	Michigan State	Big Ten	none
10	Utah State	Skyline	Lost Gotham, 9–24
11	Purdue	Big Ten	none
	Missouri	Big Eight
13	Georgia Tech	SEC	Lost Gator, 15–30
14	Duke	ACC	none
15	Kansas	Big Eight	Won Bluebonnet, 33–7
16	Syracuse	Independent	Won Liberty, 15–14
17	Wyoming	Skyline	none
18	Wisconsin	Big Ten
19	Miami (FL)	Independent	Lost Liberty, 14–15
	Penn State	Independent	Won Gator, 30–15

^[26]

• Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and AAWU (later Pac-8) conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl.
• The Ivy League has prohibited its members from participating in postseason football since the league was officially formed in 1954.

See also

• 1961 College Football All-America Team