NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — NCAA President Mark Emmert says allowing the five wealthiest conferences in Division I to make some of their own rules will allow revenue sports such as football and men’s basketball to co-exist with the many nonrevenue programs.

Emmert addressed the NCAA convention on Thursday, two days ahead of the first meeting of the so-called autonomy group, the 65 schools that make up the Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference.

The conferences will consider eight proposals on Saturday that they have been pushing for years, but could not pass because of opposition in the rest of Division I.

The most notable is allowing schools to increase the value of an athletic scholarship by several thousand dollars to cover full cost of attendance.