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Comment or question: are apartment and house prices in the areas around the Square still high-to-breathtakingly high?
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Yes. I'm sure they've dropped somewhat, but there was never a "bubble" in the sense that the cost didn't have a rational relationship to supply and demand. There are always tons of new people wanting to live in Harvard Square, many of whom have a lot of disposable income, and a very limited number of spaces in a low-rise area defined by its walkability. Then, too, the university and groups like final clubs own a lot of the property. The upshot is that the number of spaces on the open market is always far too low to accommodate all the interest, so prices will stay very high unless there's some kind of radical change in the character of the neighborhood (giant upsurge in crime rates or something). The national housing/credit market has almost nothing to do with it.
A nice 2-bed-2-bath half a mile from the T station went for $400k or more in the year 2000. I haven't looked them up lately, but...the prospect of getting an apartment big enough for the membership to squeeze into is daunting. And an undergrad social space really needs to be closer to the T station than that. Each of the final club houses is a multimillion-dollar property, and nobody even lives there. The real estate situation is much, much more relaxed at Yale.
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football gives a very real educational opportunity to students who would otherwise not qualify for college at all?
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Well, the realness of the education that football players receive varies from school to school. Some major programs have abysmal graduation rates despite giving the players Mickey Mouse courses. It's not much of a gift in exchange for the millions of dollars the players generate for the schools. And if we're giving credit to the schools for opening their doors to poor and underserved students due to athletic talent, I'd rather see the generosity go to high schoolers who prepared themselves for college by studying hard. IMHO, people near the NCAA minimums generally are not ready for a four-year college.
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