In its final rankings, the AP selected the 1961 Pittsburg State Gorillas football team as the small-college national champion.
The Gorillas finished the season with a perfect 11–0 record, shut out seven opponents, and defeated Linfield in the Camellia Bowl.
For its second through fifth spots, the AP selected four other undefeated teams: Baldwin–Wallace (9–0); Fresno State (10–0); Florida A&M (10–0); and Whittier (8–0).
[1] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) also conducted a poll of coaches at the end of the 1961 regular season.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) also conducted a poll of coaches at the end of the 1961 regular season.
The NAIA coaches poll ranked the top 20 teams, as presented in the below table.
West Chester † Team participated in the NAIA postseason The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1961 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was often racially segregated.