1961 small college football rankings

The 1961 small college football rankings are rankings of college football teams representing smaller college and university teams during the 1961 college football season, including the 1961 NCAA College Division football season and the 1961 NAIA football season. Separate rankings were published by the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press International (UPI). The AP rankings were selected by a board of experts, and the UPI rankings were selected by a board of small-college coaches from throughout the country.

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).

The UPI board of coaches also selected Pittsburg as the small-college champion with first-place votes from 14 of the participating coaches and 250 total points. The UPI rated Baldwin–Wallace second, Mississippi Southern (8–2) third, and (9–1) fourth.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) also conducted a poll of coaches at the end of the 1961 regular season. Pittsburg was selected as the national champion in the NAIA poll.

NAIA coaches poll
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. Four teams advanced to the postseason, with Pittsburg winning the bracket tournament.

1. Pittsburg † 2. Baldwin-Wallace 3. Linfield † 4. Whittier † 5. Florida A&M 6. Northern State (South Dakota) † 7. Southeastern Louisiana 8. Tampa 9. Central State (OK) 10. McNeese State 11. Panhandle A&M 12. Parsons 13. Humboldt State 14. Millikin 15. Lenoir-Rhyne 16. Ottawa (KS) 17. Arkansas Tech 18. University of Minnesota-Duluth 19. Missouri Valley 20. Westchester

† Team participated in the NAIA postseason

Pittsburgh Courier rankings
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.

The rankings were published on December 2:


 * 1. Florida A&M (10–0)
 * 2. Jackson State (9–1)
 * 3. North Carolina College (7–0–2)
 * 4. Grambling (8–2)
 * 5. Southern (7–3)
 * 6. Texas Southern (6–3)
 * 7. North Carolina A&T (5–4)
 * 8. Winston-Salem State (6–1–1)
 * 9. Johnson C. Smith (8–1)
 * 10. Morris Brown (6–4)
 * 11. Maryland State (4–2–1)
 * 12. Prairie View A&M (5–4–1)
 * 13. Tennessee A&I (4–4–1)
 * 14. Central State (7–1)
 * 15. Alabama A&M (7–1)