In their fifth season under head coach Frosty Ferzacca, the Wildcats compiled a 6–2 record and outscored opponents by a total of 252 to 69, and were ranked No.
Senior quarterback Frank Novak was chosen as the team's most valuable player.
Coach Ferzacca called Novak "a student of football with the poise, confidence and quick reaction of a great quarterback.
"[2] Guard Al Sandona received third-team honors on the 1961 Little All-America college football team.
[5] Northern Michigan's star back Gene "Mickey" Valesano was ruled ineligible after the fourth game of the season when it was discovered that he had played one year at Superior State before enrolling at Northern Michigan and was thus playing his fifth season of college football.