Creighton coach Dana Altman was en route to Yellowstone National Park on Wednesday, telling his family that he was going to be with them for a vacation this week, at least in theory.

Altman had to take a few cell phone calls, something he didn't expect to do unless it was recruiting related.

	Creighton coach Dana Altman has suddenly become very popular with exempted tournament organizers.

Creighton is suddenly being treated like Duke on the exempted tournament circuit with offers to play in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska; host and likely win two games before traveling to Kansas City, Mo., for the Guardians Classic; listen to a proposal to host a four-team tournament from Las Vegas organizer Chris Spencer; or go to Oregon for the John Thompson Challenge for a four-team tournament where the Blue Jays would be the marquee team opposite the host and nearly unbeatable Ducks at MAC Court.

"We're just trying to find the right fit,'' Altman said by cell phone with the family. "We'd probably like to get home games for our fans but we already sent out our season-ticket package to 6,500-7,000 and it's really late. We'd have to sell it differently.''

But filling a team's schedule in early August isn't the norm, at least not with a tournament that would come in the first month of the season or could involve traveling to the final frontier.

Creighton is one of the few, perhaps lucky, teams that had an exemption remaining under the NCAA's 2-in-4 rule after Judge Edmund A. Sargus ruled in favor of the NCAA on July 19. Plaintiffs in the case wanted to get rid of the 2-in-4 rule, which started in 2000-01, because the tournament organizers claimed it limits the number of teams that can play in exempted tournaments. The rule allows D-I teams to play in tourneys like the Maui Invitational and Great Alaska Shootout twice in a four-year period and in the same tournament once in four years.

Sargus wanted to see if the 2-in-4 rule would adversely effect exempted tournaments in 2002-03, 2003-04 -- the third and fourth years of the rule -- before ruling on the permanent injunction. He said in his ruling, "the Court directs that the record remain open for further consideration as to the request for a permanent injunction to determine whether the two-in-four rule will have a substantially adverse effect on the output of certified event games in years 3 and 4, i.e., seasons 2002-03 and 2003-04.''

	“	This is what the NCAA wanted. We're all fighting for the last few teams that are left. It's terrible. ”
		— Las Vegas tournament organizer Chris Spencer

Well, here's how it affected them for the upcoming season: only 10 of 27 are filled; six tournaments have been canceled; four need all four teams and are on the verge of dying; three need two teams, two others need three and two more need one team. One tournament, the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, had to become a non-exempt event. For the CVC, the move from four teams to eight and going from two games that count as one against a team's maximum 28 games to a single game actually worked in the tournament's favor. The CVC got eight teams on a national stage at Madison Square Garden Nov. 14-15. But that is probably the only success story out of the judgment.

Tournaments like the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands had to be reduced from eight to six teams. The Hawaii-Hilo tournament that once had Cincinnati and Iowa State in the final a few seasons ago is down from eight to four with lesser-known Vermont, Drake and Utah State joining the host school. One of the BCA events could drop from eight to four teams. The Top of the World Classic, which could end up being six teams instead of eight, needs to fill three teams to complete the field after it was discovered that New Mexico State was not eligible -- the Aggies played in the 2000-01 Hispanic College Fund Classic and in the 2001-02 BYU-Hawaii tournament.

"Clearly there aren't enough teams to go around to fill the events and the number of events will be diminished,'' said Rick Giles of the Gazelle Group, the New Jersey-based promoter of CVC, two BCA events (one is going to be canceled) and the 16-team Guardians Classic, which still needs four teams.

"Fewer events and fewer teams hurts the welfare of basketball consumers and players get fewer competitive opportunities, fans get fewer games to watch,'' Giles said.

And the promoters have fewer teams to fight over this month.

The list of teams that haven't used their exemption is shrinking. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Mountain West and SEC don't have a team left for 2002 that hasn't also made a commitment for 2003. The only exception is South Carolina, which may pull out of the 2003 Great Alaska Shootout to play in the 2002 Guardians Classic. Richmond is the highest profile team remaining team in the Atlantic 10; Miami and Pittsburgh are available in the Big East; Washington State could play out of the Pac-10; and San Jose State and UTEP could be had out of the WAC.

"And they've all been contacted a number of times but chose not to play this season,'' Giles said.

Creighton is looking at some dollars as well as competitive issues in making its decision. Unofficial estimates have Creighton making $30,000-50,000 if it chooses to be served up to Oregon, making roughly the same amount if they choose the Guardians -- and that's assuming they can get good crowds on two home games that aren't on their season-ticket package. If the Spencer deal were to happen, the money could be similar but there is no guarantee right now that three other teams would be available for a four-team tourney. Playing in the Top of the World could be a financial loss, as well as taking the trip to Fairbanks for three obscure games.

"We've got to get this done by the end of the week,'' Altman said.

While Creighton is taking advantage of its new found fame on the exempted circuit, Wichita State blew a chance to get rare home games. The Shockers need to play off campus next season and weren't willing to secure the local arena for two home games. Wichita State was the Guardians' Classic original choice for one of the four hosts before the tournament turned to Creighton.

"The way it's set up at the Kansas Coliseum it wouldn't be financially feasible for us because our season tickets have already been sent out and printed,'' Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon said. "It's something I wanted to do as a coach. We might never get a chance to host a tournament again if the rules change. If we were in our own building then it would be a no brainer.''

Giles got Notre Dame as one of the four hosts, at least for now, as he tries to lock in the Irish.

"We're a hot commodity,'' said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey of the Irish still having an exemption for 2002-03. "When we looked at doing this in the spring there wasn't as much interest. But when the ruling came down last month our phone has been ringing off the hook. We're trying to make it work with the Guardians.''

Spencer said the promoters haven't necessarily turned against each other but are naturally competing for the final teams, something he said was the direct result of Sargus' decision.

"This is what the NCAA wanted,'' said Spencer, who has shut down all three Las Vegas tournaments. "We're all fighting for the last few teams that are left. It's terrible.''

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.