Are strength of schedule and rpi basically the same thing?

Answer 1

A team's Strength of Schedual is determined on a ranking of the caliber of opponents they will face that season. For example, UCONN had the #1 SOS for the 2011-12 season, as they were NCAA Champions in the 2010-2011 season. This can be basically set up pre-season. A team's RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is largly used when March Madness is beginning. The committee who sets up the seeding will look at each team's RPI to determine their seed. The RPI includes Quality Wins, the strength of their conference, and basically the strength of their schedual. So in a way, they are similar, but SOS is involved in the RPI calculations.