I don't think it's propaganda, it is more what we always notice, the rankings start with fewest losses for P5 teams and then make some minor adjustments down the line. A 13-0 P5 team will be in the polls at 1 or 2 if there are no others no matter how bad their wins look in comparison. A 12-1 team MIGHT get ranked over them, maybe, at times. Of course, with polls, any loss by an undefeated team is going to drop the in the top ten rankings, and you won't be able to recover to pass an undefeated team in most cases.
An exception would have to be remarkable, say UGA beats Texas, Clemson, and Georgia Tech in one season OOC but drops a conference game to USCe and then finished 12-1, presuming those three OOC opponents are 12-1, 11-2, and 9-3.