I am no authority on RPI, and sometimes it gets confusing but the following are what I know:
Basic formula is based on winning percentage of course. One's own winning percentage, opponent's winning percentage and opponent's opponent's winning percentage are used in calculation and they are weighted differently. Then the base RPI gets ADJUSTED employing many different factors and this is where it gets a little confusing for average fans; home wins , neutral wins and away wins are calculated and weighted differently. Bonus points are awarded for wins vs. top 25/50 RPI teams and also penalty points are accessed if lose to lower-tiered RPI teams. If have an away win against a top-25 team, one gets a nice RPI boost. RPI gets better by simply playing teams with higher RPI than your own RPI, and RPI gets lower by playing teams with lower RPI even if beat them. This is why RPI favors power conferences. SOS (strength of schedule) is important in calculating/adjusting RPI. Tennessee, being in the SEE with all these power teams with high RPI on its schedule definitely gets the benefit of doubt. RPI is not perfect by any means; for one thing it does not consider margin of victory. Whether one run-rules a team by 20 or barely squeaks by one run, it all doesn't matter. A W is a W. It's all same. IMO, if the system uses margin of victory, then it will provide a better gauge of the team's actual strength.
It is what it is, and the NCAA selection committee uses RPI when assigning national seeds on selection Sunday. So we need to play the game and be smart about it.
Upcoming Oklahoma (RPI #3) game and Auburn (RPI #5) series will serve as a nice RPI booster for Tennessee, especially if we can beat them even at home. Depending on the outcome, our RPI may vey well get propelled into top 8-10, and that's where we want to sit heading into SEC tournament with a shot at hosting a super regional.