1961 Pre-Season College Football Team Rankings
1961 rankings calculated with the Classic formula (Ken's 2016-based hybrid, applied retroactively); records, NOW and game results come from James Howell's historical college football score archive.
| Rank | Change | Rating | Team | Conf | Record | Win % | Place | NOW | Game Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | 0.000 |  Air Force (AIR FORCE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 6 | 0.000 |  Alabama (ALABAMA) |  SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 27 | 0.000 |  Arizona (ARIZONA) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 34 | 0.000 |  Arizona State (ARIZONA STATE) | IND BOR | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 22 | 0.000 |  Arkansas (ARKANSAS) | IND SWC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 43 | 0.000 |  Army (ARMY) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 9 | 0.000 |  Auburn (AUBURN) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 23 | 0.000 |  Baylor (BAYLOR) | IND SWC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 71 | 0.000 |  Boston College (BOSTON COLLEGE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 89 | 0.000 |  Boston University (BOSTON UNIVERSITY) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 88 | 0.000 |  Brown (BROWN) | IND IVY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 94 | 0.000 |  BYU | IND SKY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 95 | 0.000 |  California (CALIFORNIA) |  PAC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 81 | 0.000 |  Cincinnati (CINCINNATI) | IND MVC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 30 | 0.000 |  Citadel (CITADEL) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 54 | 0.000 |  Clemson (CLEMSON) |  ACC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 101 | 0.000 | Colgate (COLGATE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 41 | 0.000 |  Colorado (COLORADO) | IND B8 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 99 | 0.000 |  Colorado State (COLORADO STATE) | IND SKY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 72 | 0.000 |  Columbia (COLUMBIA) | IND IVY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 98 | 0.000 |  Cornell (CORNELL) | IND IVY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 56 | 0.000 |  Dartmouth (DARTMOUTH) | IND IVY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 91 | 0.000 | Davidson (DAVIDSON) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 111 | 0.000 |  Dayton (DAYTON) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 28 | 0.000 |  Detroit Mercy (DETROIT MERCY) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 20 | 0.000 |  Duke (DUKE) | ACC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 8 | 0.000 |  Florida (FLORIDA) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 82 | 0.000 |  Florida State (FLORIDA STATE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 65 | 0.000 |  Furman (FURMAN) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 40 | 0.000 |  George Washington (GEORGE WASHINGTON) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 39 | 0.000 |  Georgia (GEORGIA) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 38 | 0.000 |  Georgia Tech (GEORGIA TECH) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 112 | 0.000 | Hardin Simmons (HARDIN-SIMMONS) | IND BOR | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 59 | 0.000 |  Harvard (HARVARD) | IND IVY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 53 | 0.000 |  Holy Cross (HOLY CROSS) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 51 | 0.000 |  Houston (HOUSTON) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 106 | 0.000 |  Idaho (IDAHO) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 50 | 0.000 |  Illinois (ILLINOIS) |  B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 102 | 0.000 |  Indiana (INDIANA) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 1 | 0.000 |  Iowa (IOWA) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 31 | 0.000 |  Iowa State (IOWA STATE) | IND B8 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 7 | 0.000 |  Kansas (KANSAS) | IND B8 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 107 | 0.000 |  Kansas State (KANSAS STATE) | IND B8 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 46 | 0.000 |  Kentucky (KENTUCKY) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 58 | 0.000 |  LSU | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 52 | 0.000 |  Maryland (MARYLAND) | ACC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 32 | 0.000 |  Memphis (MEMPHIS) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 45 | 0.000 |  Miami (MIAMI) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 37 | 0.000 |  Michigan (MICHIGAN) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 16 | 0.000 |  Michigan State (MICHIGAN STATE) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 10 | 0.000 |  Minnesota (MINNESOTA) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 0 | 0.000 |  Ole Miss (MISSISSIPPI) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 73 | 0.000 |  Mississippi State (MISSISSIPPI STATE) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 4 | 0.000 |  Missouri (MISSOURI) | IND B8 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 70 | 0.000 |  Montana (MONTANA) | IND SKY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 13 | 0.000 |  Navy (NAVY) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 64 | 0.000 |  Nebraska (NEBRASKA) | IND B8 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 60 | 0.000 |  New Mexico (NEW MEXICO) | IND SKY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 2 | 0.000 |  New Mexico State (NEW MEXICO STATE) | IND BOR | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 87 | 0.000 |  North Carolina (NORTH CAROLINA) | ACC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 42 | 0.000 |  NC State (NORTH CAROLINA STATE) | ACC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 97 | 0.000 |  North Texas (NORTH TEXAS) | IND MVC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 49 | 0.000 |  Northwestern (NORTHWESTERN) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 93 | 0.000 |  Notre Dame (NOTRE DAME) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 19 | 0.000 |  Ohio State (OHIO STATE) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 74 | 0.000 |  Oklahoma (OKLAHOMA) | IND B8 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 77 | 0.000 |  Oklahoma State (OKLAHOMA STATE) | IND B8 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 36 | 0.000 |  Oregon (OREGON) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 44 | 0.000 |  Oregon State (OREGON STATE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 84 | 0.000 |  Pacific (PACIFIC) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 17 | 0.000 |  Penn State (PENN STATE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 79 | 0.000 |  Pennsylvania (PENNSYLVANIA) | IND IVY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 47 | 0.000 |  Pittsburgh (PITTSBURGH) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 18 | 0.000 |  Princeton (PRINCETON) | IND IVY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 48 | 0.000 |  Purdue (PURDUE) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 33 | 0.000 |  Rice (RICE) | IND SWC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 83 | 0.000 |  Richmond (RICHMOND) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 26 | 0.000 |  Rutgers (RUTGERS) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 68 | 0.000 |  San José State (SAN JOSE STATE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 105 | 0.000 |  SMU | IND SWC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 85 | 0.000 |  South Carolina (SOUTH CAROLINA) | ACC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 109 | 0.000 |  Stanford (STANFORD) | PAC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 12 | 0.000 |  Syracuse (SYRACUSE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 57 | 0.000 |  TCU | IND SWC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 21 | 0.000 |  Tennessee (TENNESSEE) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 35 | 0.000 |  Texas (TEXAS) | IND SWC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 96 | 0.000 |  Texas A&M (TEXAS A & M) | IND SWC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 75 | 0.000 |  Texas Tech (TEXAS TECH) | IND SWC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 80 | 0.000 |  Tulane (TULANE) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 61 | 0.000 |  Tulsa (TULSA) | IND MVC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 15 | 0.000 |  UCLA | PAC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 67 | 0.000 |  USC | PAC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 24 | 0.000 |  Utah (UTAH) | IND SKY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 11 | 0.000 |  Utah State (UTAH STATE) | IND SKY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 69 | 0.000 |  UTEP | IND BOR | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 78 | 0.000 |  Vanderbilt (VANDERBILT) | SEC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 104 | 0.000 |  Villanova (VILLANOVA) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 110 | 0.000 |  Virginia (VIRGINIA) | ACC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 25 | 0.000 |  Virginia Military Institute (VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 55 | 0.000 |  Virginia Tech (VIRGINIA TECH) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 100 | 0.000 |  Wake Forest (WAKE FOREST) | ACC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 3 | 0.000 |  Washington (WASHINGTON) | PAC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 66 | 0.000 |  Washington State (WASHINGTON STATE) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 90 | 0.000 |  West Texas A&M (WEST TEXAS A&M) | IND BOR | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 108 | 0.000 |  West Virginia (WEST VIRGINIA) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 29 | 0.000 |  Wichita State (WICHITA STATE) | IND MVC | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 103 | 0.000 |  William & Mary (WILLIAM & MARY) | IND SOCON | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 62 | 0.000 |  Wisconsin (WISCONSIN) | B10 | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 14 | 0.000 |  Wyoming (WYOMING) | IND SKY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 76 | 0.000 |  Xavier (XAVIER) | IND FBSI | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |
| 1 | 5 | 0.000 |  Yale (YALE) | IND IVY | 0–0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0 | Preseason |