NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Call the Vanderbilt Commodores winners and champions. The program previously known best as the Southeastern Conference's perennial cellar dwellers finally have earned it.

Vanderbilt earned its first bowl win in exactly 53 years by beating Boston College 16-14 Wednesday in the Music City Bowl, a victory that also gave the Commodores their first winning season in 26 years.

And they understand exactly what they did.

"Words can't describe how much this means to this program," center Bradley Vierling said. "To be 7-6 instead of 6-7, to be winners instead of losers. This means everything. We're loving every second of it."

Bryant Hahnfeldt kicked three field goals, the last a 45-yarder with 3:26 left for the winning margin. Sean Richardson scored the lone touchdown for Vandy by covering a botched punt in the end zone in the third quarter, and the Commodores outplayed the nation's best defense at picking off passes by intercepting two themselves.

Vanderbilt hadn't won a bowl game since the 1955 Gator Bowl, hadn't played in a bowl since the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl and hadn't won more than six games in a season until earning this bowl trip. Coach Bobby Johnson, who didn't mind having a cooler of water dumped on him at the end, called it a nice piece in the building process.

ATLANTA — Richard Dickson believes LSU lost more than a spot in the Top 25 when it lost five games one year after winning the national championship.Dickson says the Tigers regained some respect with Wednesday night's 38-3 victory over Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl."Things didn't go the way we wanted this year and people didn't respect us," said Dickson, a junior tight end. "We wanted to come back and earn their respect."Charles Scott ran for three touchdowns, freshman quarterback Jordan Jefferson completed his first nine passes and LSU made big plays on special teams in the lopsided win over the 14th-ranked Yellow Jackets.LSU outscored Georgia Tech 28-0 in the second quarter and led 35-3 at halftime. Scott, who had 65 yards rushing, had two touchdowns in the decisive period.

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Kansas Jayhawks had plenty of reasons to celebrate, and just as many to look forward to next season.The Jayhawks hope their 42-21 victory over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl on Wednesday will be a springboard for 2009.They're expected to have several key players back, including junior quarterback Todd Reesing, who riddled Minnesota for 313 yards passing and four touchdowns, and sophomore Dezmon Briscoe, who caught a game-record 14 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns on his way to game MVP honors."We've got a lot of guys coming back," said Reesing, now 20-6 as a starter. "We're going to have big expectations for next year. We're going to enjoy this one tonight and then come back in January and get after it for next year."

FORT WORTH, Texas — With nearly three decades of postseason futility over, Bryce Beall, Case Keenum and the rest of the Houston Cougars can start a different streak.Beall had 227 total yards, Keenum accounted for three touchdowns and Houston beat Air Force 34-28 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Wednesday to end an eight-game postseason losing streak."It is good to set a winning tradition here," said defensive end Phillip Hunt, who was on the losing end in three bowl games before Wednesday. "Hopefully our young guys will come along and keep it up."Two of Hunt's younger teammates made big contributions in Houston's first postseason victory since the Garden State Bowl in 1980.Beall rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown, and caught four passes for 92 yards. Keenum ran for two TDs and threw for another.