Super Bowl champion Ravens to open season at Denver

Peyton Manning back in Indianapolis — in a Broncos uniform.

Peyton vs. younger brother Eli Manning in another Manning Bowl.

Andy Reid returning to Philadelphia: Let the booing begin now?

The NFL schedule, released Thursday, is filled with return visits and intriguing matchups, beginning with a road game for the defending Super Bowl champions.

And Peyton Manning will be part of that too, as the Baltimore Ravens travel to Denver for the now-traditional Thursday night opener on Sept. 5. The Baltimore Orioles are home that night and Major League Baseball could not move their game.

So $121-million quarterback Joe Flacco and his fellow champs were sent to Denver — to face Manning and the team they beat in double overtime on their way to the Super Bowl.

The next week, Peyton visits Eli’s house when the Broncos play the New York Giants.

Other high-profile games:

— The Sunday night season opener is the Giants at the Cowboys, and the Monday night doubleheader has Philadelphia at Washington, then Houston at San Diego.

—Thanksgiving Day has Detroit playing host to Green Bay — once an every-year occurrence — and Dallas at home for Oakland. The holiday night game features one of football’s most intense rivalries: Pittsburgh at Baltimore.

— Rematches of 2012 championship games come on Sunday night, Dec. 22, with New England at Baltimore, and the next night, with NFC winner San Francisco at Atlanta in the final Monday night game of the season.

ETC.

Lakers assistant coach Eddie Jordan has accepted the head coaching position at Rutgers. While the university has yet to announce the hire, Jordan will return to his alma mater, where he attended and played from 1973-77.

Jordan replaces Mike Rice, who was fired after a practice video showed him being verbally and physically abusive to his players.

While at Rutgers as a student, Jordan was known as “Fast Eddie” and led the Scarlet Knights to a Final Four appearance in 1976.

Jordan was added to the Lakers’ staff under former coach Mike Brown and was asked to help institute a variation of the Princeton offense.

When Coach Mike D’Antoni took over, he retained Brown’s staff, including Jordan.

In addition to helping the 1982 Lakers win a championship as a reserve shooting guard, Jordan served as head coach with the Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers.

— Eric Pincus

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Jason Day and Marc Leishman kept the Australian flag flying high at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Four days after countryman Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters, Day and Leishman each shot four-under-par 67 and trailed leader Brian Davis by two shots after the first round at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Davis lost a playoff to Jim Furyk in 2010 at Harbour Town after calling a penalty on himself. This time, the Englishman birdied eight of his final 14 holes for a 65 to pull past Day and Leishman, who were back in contention after falling short Sunday at Augusta National.

Kevin Streelman and Charley Hoffman were a stroke behind Davis at 66, while Johnson Wagner also shot 67. U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson led a large group at 68.

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Bunny Casey got a member-member tournament at Ironwood Country Club in Palm Desert off to a rousing start Thursday. Starting at hole No. 11 on the North Course, Casey aced a par-three hole from 115 yards out on her first swing of the tournament. She then added a second hole-in-one on No. 4, a par-three, 150-yard hole. The shots were verified by club pro Mike Oberlander.

Casey, 69, of Palm Desert, is a seven-time women’s champion at the club.

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Churchill Downs has tightened security for the Kentucky Derby following the Boston Marathon bombings and is asking spectators to be observant of their surroundings during next month’s races.

The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks are expected to draw close to 250,000 fans on May 3-4. The Derby will be the nation’s largest sports event since the marathon.

Churchill Downs announced security policies for the Derby and Oaks last Friday. But after meeting with law enforcement officials following Monday’s blasts that killed three and injured more than 170, the track strengthened its procedures.

Coolers, cans, fireworks and camcorders are among the items banned from the infield. Fans will also be subjected to an electronic wand search and are encouraged to watch for unusual and suspicious behavior.

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Organizers of Bahrain’s Grand Prix said that sporadic protests against the race and violent unrest across the Gulf nation do not pose a threat to the premier international event in the kingdom.

Anti-government groups have stepped up protests against the Sunday race in attempts to embarrass authorities, but the demonstrations have been mostly isolated to areas that are hotbeds of opposition to the ruling royal family. Rights groups also are using the race to criticize Bahrain’s arrests and other security crackdowns.

Zayed Alzayani, the chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit, said security measures in place this week at the circuit were no different than in past races. Police vehicles dotted the road leading to the circuit and there were several checkpoints before the track.

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Libya has been declared safe to host World Cup qualifying matches, the first national team games on home ground since the uprising that ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

FIFA says it “decided to reauthorize matches in Libya” after the Confederation of African Football recommended approval.

Libya will play host to Congo in Tripoli on June 7 and Togo in Benina, near Benghazi, on June 14.

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Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary announced they are putting off the NBA draft to return for their sophomore seasons at Michigan.

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NBC Sports Group announced a 10-year contract extension to televise Notre Dame football games, doubling the length of its previous agreement. NBC and Notre Dame said the extension would begin in 2016 and run through the 2025 season.

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Eight-time defending champion Rafael Nadal extended his Monte Carlo Masters winning streak to 44 matches by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-2, 6-4, while second-ranked Andy Murray was routed, 6-1, 6-2, by Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round in Monaco.