Since I've only been playing this game for a couple of seasons, I'm not embarrassed to ask: if you have a 10-2 record with a 96 SOS and I have a 10-2 record with an 80 schedule, do we know who has the better RPI?

No. Depends on home/away record.

If you're saying that a team that plays both Duke and UConn (A+ HCAs) on the road has a tougher schedule than if it played them both at home, then why isn't that already factored into SOS?

Playing 10 away games against A+ teams is the same as playing them all at home? It would certainly be tougher on the road. A "tougher" schedule isn't a "stronger" schedule?

Why doesn't one's "net" SOS factor in all things you might consider as to which schedule is "stronger"?

SOS is basically a reflection of the W-L record of your opponents combined with the W-L record of their opponents. Nothing more, nothing less.

RPI takes into account your specific team's W-L record and whether it was home or road. With the factoring in of road/home outcomes (1.4 vs .6) a team that goes 5-5 on the road is actually playing .700 ball. And a team that goes 5-5 at home is only at .300. But your team's success is only 25% of the total RPI compared to the 75% weight of the SOS.

So in this case, a team that was 5-5 on the road would have a RPI about .100 better than a team that played the same opponents, but was 5-5 at home.

That's a reason many look at the RPI as an incomplete number that only tells part of the story, and in RL it's not unusual for a team with a 50+ RPI to get a 6 seed in the tourney and a team with a sub 50 RPI to get out.