It's conference season, volleyball fans! Now every match has a big implications, with teams fighting for conference championships and bids to the NCAA tournament. See our picks for the best matches of the first weekend of conference play.

Washington vs. USC | Friday, 7 PM PT | Pac-12 Network

The reigning co-champions of the Pac-12 conference will face off only once in the regular season this year. Washington suffered an unexpected loss to open conference play on Wednesday at the hands of Washington State. The loss was the Huskies' first of the 2016 season. For its part, USC dropped its first conference showing of 2016 to UCLA in four sets.

Ohio State vs. Wisconsin | Friday, 7 PM CT | BTN2Go

This top-20 battle pits No. 4 Wisconsin against No. 17 Ohio State. The Buckeyes will travel to Madison to open the Big Ten season, but head coach Geoff Carlson said his team is good on the road. For his part, Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield said OSU looks better than it did last year, and the Buckeyes upset the Badgers the first time they played in 2015. No match in the Big Ten is ever a given, and we can't wait to see how this one plays out.

Marquette vs. Creighton | Friday, 7 PM CT | Fox Sports Go

Creighton and Marquette were picked to finish No. 1 and No. 2 in the Big East, respectively. The Bluejays are 6-6 after completing a tough preseason schedule that included Kentucky, Wichita State, USC, and Kansas. Marquette opened its season with a four-set victory over USC and is 10-2 overall. The team that wins this match will receive some serious lift among mid-major schools in the rankings.

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Louisville vs. Florida State | Sunday, 1 PM ET | ESPN

Louisville (5-5) will travel to Tallahassee after opening its conference season in South Bend against Notre Dame. Florida State's only losses have been to two top-10 teams, Florida and Minnesota, and the Seminoles were picked to finish second behind North Carolina in the preseason conference rankings. However, Louisville is the reigning conference champ and is led by freshman outside hitter Melanie McHenry, who has 126 kills so far this season.

Texas vs. Kansas | Saturday, 7 PM CT | Longhorn Network

Texas is usually dominant in the Big 12 conference, but if any team can challenge the No. 3 Longhorns this year, it's Kansas. The Jayhawks pushed Texas to five sets the last time the two teams played (on Nov. 11, 2015), and were the only Big 12 team to do so last season. (TCU handed Texas a 0-3 loss in the Longhorns' only conference loss of the year.) Kansas opened its  Big 12 schedule with a sweep of Oklahoma on Wednesday.

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