MONROE, N.C. -- Diehard panthers fans lined up for hours to get their hands on free tickets to Saturday's playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Matthew Schroder was first in line.

"I am very excited about that. I made sure I got here really early to be number one," he said.

Early meant waiting in line for 45 hours. He and his brother arrived Saturday, but tickets weren't given out until Monday.

"Been here two nights in a row. This is a Panthers playoff game, home playoff game," said Schroder.

While Schroder was excited, that wasn't the case for everyone.

Once the line got long and more people started showing up, organizers decided to assign numbers to those in line to avoid any confusion. But some thought that meant tickets had been given out. That wasn't the case.

Every 30 minutes, there was a roll call and if you had a number and missed it, you lost your place in line. Some thought that wasn't fair.

"I don't deserve to be played with like this.  I deserve a seat for the Panthers playoff," said Kobie Emanuel, a Panthers fan.

Alan Watts made the drive from Lincolnton to get tickets, but he missed out on getting a number while sitting in his car.

"We walked over and found out we drove here and stayed overnight for no reason" said Watts.

Fans like Matt Sloan, who drove from Wilmington, had no problems with the number assignment.

"It keeps people from skipping in line," he said.

Organizers say they tried to make it as fair as possible for everyone.

"It's still going to be the first 100 people in line come 5 o'clock," said Alex Lamb, with Alltel Wireless. "Unfortunately due to the hottest ticket in town, not everyone can get one."

And not everyone did, but for those who were lucky enough to score a Panthers playoff ticket for free, "I feel like we were rewarded for being the most dedicated," said Sloan.

Fans also got a chance to meet Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams and get his autograph.

Organizers also raffled off five pairs of tickets to Saturday’s game.