Side rant, but IMO it should always be legal to bet on your own team to win.
disagree. if an athlete bets on his team when he thinks they will win - and doesn't bet the game at all when he thinks they won't - he's in effect giving up valuable information to whoever typically takes his bets (whether it be a legal operator or corner street bookie.) if dekker bet iowa state in the first three games but not the fourth, as one example, it's a major story. and if he just so happens to play poorly in that fourth game, people will question if he told someone else to bet against them.
best solution: don't bet if you're a participant in the sport.