first place team, when they already had that chance during the season, or is it better to give another team a chance who may or may not actually be the second place team - I say may or may not because it is really difficult to know how good teams really are.

Personally I favor giving who we "think" is the 3rd place team a shot at a title over who we "think" is the second place team if that second place team actually already had their chance to prove they were the first place team and lost.